Picture source – NobleWorks
The year is wrapping up, and almost everyone already has one or more resolutions for the new year. While this has become the norm at the beginning of every year, only a few actually manage to stay on track and stick to these self-made decisions. But why do most people find it hard to follow their New Year resolutions?
Our minds have immense power over our actions, and while this is a fact, people really do not respect this truth. Making a resolution without taking the right steps to get your mind to accept it will only lead to you being faithful in the short term. One of the most effective ways to get your resolution to work is to aim at baiting it into being a habit.
Africans, both at home and in the diaspora, face lots of challenges each day. Whether from cultural differences, social encounters, or occasional hindrances, they easily distract anyone from sticking to their resolutions in the long run. However, it will take something more serious to make you break a good or healthy habit. Therefore, successfully making your New Year’s resolution become a habit inevitably turns it into something that you can keep up effortlessly and, at the same time, find hard to stop.
The next question is, how do you turn your resolutions into habits? Continue reading to find five steps to achieve this in 2025.
1. Set A Goal
Picture source – Pixabay
No one learns to drive a car or ride a bike by looking at their feet all the time. Instead, you have to constantly look at the direction you are going- your goal. You keep doing this till it becomes second nature.
In this case, setting a goal with your resolutions gives your mind something to lock on to and target. Yes, it sounds plain, but this one step makes all the difference between achievers and those who only dream.
When setting your goal for the New Year, avoid making the following mistakes:
- Ambiguity: Keep your goals focused, precise, and attainable. Making a resolution that can easily derail into something else can do more harm than good. Ensure that your aims remain clear and not muddled up.
- Copycatting: Comparison, they say, is the thief of joy. When setting and working towards your resolutions, do not gravitate towards what everyone is doing just because it looks good or popular. Instead, go for something that resonates with you. This way, it becomes easier for you to achieve or adapt it as a habit. Remember that being authentic and unique remains one of your greatest strengths as a Black person.
- Complexity: Setting something complex can easily burn you out as the journey progresses. More often than not, simplicity does it best. As such, keep your goals simple and in view. If you have something complex, try to break it down into ‘mini-goals’ that will serve as waypoints to the main goal.
Speaking of simplifying complex objectives, the next point plays well into this course of action.
2. One Step At A Time
Picture source – Floyd & Sally McClung
After setting your goal(s), you need to have a course of action or plan. Having this provides you with a sort of map that guides you from where you are to where you want to be within your chosen timeframe.
But then, you should not rush through the steps you have highlighted for your resolution. Instead, take it one step at a time. You will need to be patient and also afford yourself some grace because there are times when you might not meet up. However, the most important thing is to keep your focus on the goal and continue.
When you run a race and stumble, you do not go back to the starting line to begin again. No, you get up and keep running. So, you start your course of action with something simple, then as the days go by, you begin to build up momentum till you reach a pace that you can maintain while remaining focused on your resolution.
3. Consistency
Picture source – Hello Coach
Everyone who has ever achieved something great in life has employed this point at one time or the other. Consistency modifies an action or deed into a habit by making it second nature to you.
Take learning a musical instrument, for example. Dedicating just an hour or two per day to learning or practising can make you proficient in time, which can be as short as months. Remember that practice makes perfect, and this applies to your goals and resolution. Whether you like it or not, the time will pass, and a year will go by again. You can choose to reach for your goals during this time or start thinking about the resolutions at the end of the year again.
4. Be Accountable To Someone
Picture source – Qooper
Despite best efforts, sometimes, one can still relapse, and this is why you need to avoid being accountable only to yourself. Have someone who can hold you accountable for your goals for 2025.
It could be a friend, loved one, or a mentor, but make sure you pick someone you respect for it to be effective. The awareness that someone else aside from you is monitoring your progress can keep you going on bad days. During the times when motivation fails, discipline lets you fight on.
5. Do Not Overlook The Importance Of A Supportive Environment
Picture source – UF/IFAS Extension
Someone once said that if you put a seed in concrete and another in good soil, only one will germinate and reward your efforts of watering. No amount of water or fertilizer will make a seed flourish in concrete.
Everyone needs the right environment for growth and breakthrough. This can come in the form of having the right people close to you and around you. It can also mean being in the right institution or working in a fitting environment.
A supportive environment helps you progress more towards your goals with less energy and challenges. Therefore in the quest to get your resolution to work by modifying it into a habit, have the right kind of people and an enabling environment around you.
Remember that it is a marathon, not a sprint.
Cheers to the New Year!
