Stick to your resolutions

Disclosure: GIFTED

David Brudö, CEO and Co-Founder at personal development and mental wellbeing app Remente (www.remente.com) comments on setting realistic, specific and attractive targets for 2019.

Realistic goals

One of the first things to do when it comes to setting a New Year’s resolution is to identify a realistic goal. For this, you need to know your own strengths and abilities, as well as the limit to which you are willing to be pushed. For example, if you want to start running, but never did so before, your first goal shouldn’t be running a marathon within a month. Instead, aim to run a set distance, such as 5K and increase your speed – once you’re comfortable, gradually increase the distance. Setting a realistic goal will make it easier for you to achieve it, as resolutions which are too far outside of our possibilities cause us to become discouraged and give up. 

Specific aims

Once you’ve decided on a realistic resolution, think about how you will measure your success. Provide yourself with tangible and measurable aims. Avoid using terms like ‘get better at’ or ‘be more…’ as these are too vague, instead try to use words like ‘increase’ and ‘develop’. For example, if you would like to be more sociable, set yourself a goal of ‘seeing friends once a week’ or ‘getting better at asking strangers for directions’. Because the phrasing is more specific, and you’ve set yourself smaller targets within the overall resolution, you will be much more likely to achieve your goal.  

Attractive targets

Make sure that your resolution is an attractive one and that you feel like you’ve achieved something at the end. Adding a sense of fun, urgency or competition to your resolution will make you more invested in succeeding and the sense of reward will help you persevere. Additionally, if you feel like you are having fun and enjoying yourself, overcoming any difficulties along the way won’t seem so hard.  

Let others help you

New Year resolutions don’t have to be completely solitary – if you have friends who share your aim of getting fitter, learning a new skill or going out more, motivate each other by sharing activities that can get you closer towards your end goal. My partner is going on a lviv stag do in the next couple of weeks, and he is determined to still stick to his weight loss targets. Alternatively, if your goal is something that you are doing on your own, you can still share your achievements and ambitions with friends and family – telling others about what you want to do can provide extra motivation and prevent you from giving up. 

Internal or inner motivation 

Once you decided on your resolution and how you will measure your achievements, find a source of motivation. This can be internal – if, for example, you feel passionate doing something that will bring you closer to your goal. Finding an inner source of motivation will bring with it a state of ‘flow’ in which you will concentrate on your goal and not get distracted with any obstacles. Alternatively, you could turn to external motivation, which is a reward or feeling of appreciation that you receive from others for achieving your goals. 

Remente (www.remente.com) is a free-to-use personal development and mental wellbeing platform for both individuals and businesses. The app combines psychology with brain and mental training to help users reach their full potential, complete personal goals, and lead a healthier lifestyle.

This post is written in collaboration with Remente.