Setting resolutions is a popular new year tradition, and you might be planning to make certain changes to your lifestyle at the beginning of 2025. Perhaps you want to stay active or take up a new hobby? You could make financial resolutions too, such as saving more or reducing your spending in certain areas.
If you’re able to stick to your resolutions, you may create lasting improvements to your lifestyle. Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done. In fact, Mental Health UK reports that 90% of people fail to stick to their resolutions and 25% quit in the first week.
This is often because of the motivation behind our resolutions and the pressure we place on ourselves. Fortunately, there are some simple ways you can improve your goal setting and increase your chances of success.
Read on to learn five effective ways to stick to your resolutions in 2025.
1. Avoid shame-based motivators
You might set resolutions to help you change behaviours that you see as counterproductive, such as eating too much sugar or overspending on luxuries. While it can be useful to make improvements in these areas, it could also mean that you’re motivated by shame and negative feelings about yourself.
This mindset could make it more challenging to create lasting change. However, if you shift your perspective to a more positive one, you may find it easier to stick to your resolution.
For instance, you might decide to cut back on your sugar consumption because you want to reduce your weight or change the way you look. Instead of these self-critical motivators, you could focus on feeling healthier or extending your lifespan so you can spend more time with family.
The resolution is the same but your reasons for making the change are more positive and less shame-based, meaning you might be more motivated.
2. Be realistic about your goals
Setting unrealistic goals is another reason why you might find it hard to stick to your resolutions. It’s easily done because you’re excited about making positive changes to your life, but if you’re too ambitious, you could be setting yourself up for failure.
You might fall victim to this if you aim to contribute more to your savings. If your savings goal is too large and you can’t realistically put away enough each month to meet it, you can quickly feel disheartened.
Conversely, if you review your budget and determine what you can comfortably afford to save, you may find it easier to remain consistent and work towards your goal.
Being more realistic about your resolutions could mean that you’re more likely to sustain them in the long term.
3. Break your goal into smaller milestones
Breaking goals into smaller milestones could also be a useful way to make your resolution feel less daunting.
For example, if you want to change your diet, cutting out all unhealthy foods immediately is likely to be very challenging. However, you might find more success if you start with one or two foods and swap them for healthier options.
Once you have established these changes as part of your routine, you might make a few more healthy swaps and gradually alter your diet over the course of the year.
These smaller milestones feel far easier to reach and meeting them could give you a valuable incentive to keep going.
4. Plan for hurdles
Nobody is perfect and even if you make good progress with your resolution, you might have some setbacks. It’s important that you consider this and prepare yourself for these hurdles.
If you’re trying to get into a regular exercise routine, for example, you may miss some workouts if you have a busy week or get ill. When this happens, it can be easy to drop the habit altogether.
Yet, if you decide ahead of time how you’ll deal with missing workouts, you may find it easier to maintain your progress. You could reschedule for a different day of the week or add an extra workout the following week. Alternatively, you might decide to simply skip a day and carry on as normal the following week.
Whatever you decide, planning for hurdles and accepting them as part of the process could help you remain consistent in the long term.
5. Find an accountability partner
When you set a resolution and don’t stick to it, you might feel disappointed but the consequences of the decision only affect you. However, if somebody else is counting on your success, you might be less likely to give up on the resolution right away.
That’s why you may want to consider an accountability partner. This is another person who shares your goal, and you can both hold one another accountable. This moral support and responsibility to another person may make it far easier to keep your resolution.
Additionally, you can offer one another advice that will help you on your journey.
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If you have financial resolutions for 2025, we can help you achieve them.
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Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.