Keeping Your Enthusiasm through the New Year

Each year starts with the loud bangs of fireworks or the festive popping of champagne corks. It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of the celebrations. We make big promises to ourselves about great changes in the New Year. We wake up on January 1st excited to face a year of potential. This excitement carries us through those first few weeks when anything is still possible.

As the weeks pass, it gets harder and harder to maintain that initial enthusiasm. Whether we get bogged down in disappointments of not meeting our day-to-day goals or just in the minutia of everyday life, the New Year quickly becomes the new normal.
Whether you want to make big changes to your life in the New Year or just want to make some rather minor tweaks, keeping your enthusiasm throughout the New Year is a key to making your resolutions a reality.

Spend Time with Your Community—Rejuvenate your enthusiasm by spending time with a community of like-minded individuals. When you spend time with people who share your interests and passions it gives you the opportunity to learn something new, share something you know and gain a new perspective on something that matters to you.

Do Something Out of the Ordinary—Mix it up a little bit and do something out of the ordinary. Changing up a location or adding new people to your group are all ways to do something out of the ordinary while still working towards your goals. A little creativity goes a long way when you start to get bored.

Monitor Your Progress—Keep track of your progress on a regular basis. While you have to understand that fluctuations are a normal part of life, you have to be aware when a trend is moving you away from your goal. It’s easier to get back on track when you only have to make a small change and it will help you keep from getting discouraged by the inevitable set back.

Have a Plan B—While it’s important to commit to your goals and actions that will help you realize your goals, it is necessary to plan for life happening. As we all know, we can’t plan for everything and sometimes you have to make do. Figure out ways to be flexible and have a back-up plan ready.

Don’t Sabotage Yourself—Don’t be afraid to celebrate milestones on the path to achieving your goals. Find new ways to celebrate that don’t tempt you to fall back into old habits. And be mindful of celebrating with friends. You can’t celebrate weight loss with a fabulous cake from your favorite bakery.

We all have made goals at the beginning of the year that are influenced by magazines and popular culture. These are the goals that are hard to keep. Set yourself up for success by stating goals that matter to you and don’t beat yourself up when you have a setback.