Well now that Christmas is out of the way it is time to look forward to the next big holiday celebration … The New Year!

And with the new year that means New Year’s Resolutions. You know those promises you make at the beginning of the year that you say you are going to do all throughout the year but then stop doing one week into the New Year, yeah those things. Well this year I have some helpful tips for everyone to make sure you are actually able to keep your New Year’s Resolutions this year!

First off start small. Don’t make the big New Year’s Resolution of losing 20 pounds by the end of January. Try to make the resolution of going to the gym twice a week or doing 20 more minutes of exercise each day. By keeping your resolutions small they are much more manageable and easier to keep. So even though you aren’t specifically saying your resolution is to lose weight, you have created manageable resolutions to get you there.

Second be specific. Like in the example of above if you want to lose weight or eat more healthy creating broad resolutions like that can be hard to keep because you don’t know where to start. By making specific goals like I am going to eat two more salads a week or I will only have ice cream once a night. The more specific your resolution is the more likely you are to keep it and once again the easier it is to keep it. By making small, specific resolutions you are really setting yourself up for success this year.

Then the last major thing to remember is that no body is perfect, you are not going to be able to perfectly keep all your New Year’s Resolution. So if things start to go south just remember it is not the end of the world! Just accept that the slip up happened and then reset your sights on your resolutions. Don’t think that because you made one slip up that means you have to stop your whole resolution, just try your best to pick up where you left off.