New Year, New You? How is your New Years Resolution going?

Here are 5 quick tips and tricks to get you back on track and stay on track!

Remember why you made your resolution

Everyone starts a New Years resolution for a reason, so remember yours! Whether it is loosing weight, learning a new skill, getting a new job, or getting more sleep, there is a reason why you wanted to accomplish something. These reasons are going to fuel your goals and keep you accountable months down the line. Are you trying to get healthier, provide more opportunities for your family, or trying to improve your knowledge of the world? There was a reason you were trying to accomplish something - so don’t forget it.

Plan for success

Set yourself up for success by creating ways to help keep yourself accountable. Use a journal to document your progress. Keep a planner to remind you to do something that day. Write out a meal plan or a grocery list to keep yourself on track.

Rethink what your goal is. Are you trying to sleep 8 hours a night but only getting 5 hours? Start with microgoals. Try and start with getting 6 hours every night and add on as you go. This can work with many different subjects, such as: loosing weight, running a marathon, or trying to do the splits. Start with small goals and work your way up to the big goal.

Also, be specific with your goals. Don’t just say “exercise more” - chose an amount. For example, 30 minutes of walking everyday, or going to the gym 3x a week.

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Reward yourself for the small things

When you accomplish your microgoals, reward yourself! It is important to recognize hard work. Do something nice for yourself or get something that helps encourage you to continue on your goals.

Get support

Tell your friends and family about your goal. Find a person to help be an accountability partner or look up a group to cheer you on. Having support will help motivate your success as well as help you get back on track if you feel like you are going to fail.

Forgive yourself and try again

If at first don’t succeed, try, try again. The classic phrase that is so correct. Give yourself a little grace and keep up the hard work. Anything worthwhile takes a little bit of fight. It is important that you keep fighting for it. Forgive yourself and try again.

Author

Alana Hamilton Alana Hamilton is a physical therapist at Advantage Physical Therapy in Falls Church, Virginia. She is a proud Hokie from Virginia Tech with a major in Biology and a minor in psychology and sociology. Following graduation, she immediately got her doctorate in Physical Therapy from Radford University. She is an avid fan of Pilates, running, and hiking. On the weekends, she can be found hanging out with her family and baby as well as doing Spartan races with her old physical therapy classmates and friends. She is a big believer that during rehabilitation, "Motion is the Lotion" and that staying active is key to remaining healthy.