How To: Make New Year's Resolutions Stick

It's what we're all thinking...

Drink less alcohol. Eat healthy food. Get a better job. Get fit. 

How long is your list of resolutions for the year ahead?

If you're anything like the statistics we found, you're more than likely to give up on your ambitious goals anytime after your first month. We're not saying that to discourage you. In fact, we're hoping you're up for the challenge and, if so, we have a few pointers that just might give you the confidence you need to finally make those resolutions stick!

1. Make your goals realistic and attainable: If your plan is to lose weight, plan a realistic goal for yourself. You can always add more to a task later but by starting out small you can aim for big, overall success.
2. Work with a friend: Sometimes its easier to work in a team. This is an effective way to reach goals on a timeline when you are part of an encouraging group. (It's like having you're own built-in cheerleaders or personal trainers!) Your successes will be their successes and you can work collaboratively on the parts of your goal that might prove to be more difficult.
3. Rewarding yourself is okay: Every so often, a little compensation for a job well done is in order. But, be careful! Stay away from "days off" and instead do less. In lieu of completely giving up for a day, allow yourself to take a mini-vacation and do something that makes you happy but maybe temporarily takes the focus off the one task you're trying to accomplish. You might even feel better about being able to get back on track once you've taken a short break!
4. Give yourself credit: Some goals (like quitting cigarettes) are harder to achieve than basic and simple adjustments to a lifestyle. When dealing with goals that encourage the breaking of habits, sometimes its better to set intervals of scaling back bad behavior or adverse habits and also more manageable. You'll feel more accomplished if you can accomplish pieces of your plan instead of building up anxiety when you don't meet your mark.
5. Don't give up!: Stay focused. Even if you slip, don't beat yourself up about it. Twelve months is a long time to set and accomplish any given task so while there's room for error, there's also room for success!

Whether you are trying to save money or you just to want to plan a trip, we're rooting for you! Send us suggestions you have for meeting your new goals in 2012 by commenting below, on our Facebook page or on Twitter by following @COSMOpolitique!

Here's to a happy and healthy 2012 & may all of your resolutions be successful!