19 Tips I’ve Used To Keep New Years Resolutions All Year Long

New year, new you. Right?

Now more than ever, it’s time to set goals and keep your momentum going (for, you know, longer than a few weeks).

Seeing everyone write their new year, new me resolutions can be daunting! I know as I was writing out mine that I was having a tough time thinking about what’s possible. After the year we just had, how can I feel motivated and pumped up to chase greatness?

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So moving into the new year, I think it’s really important to set realistic goals, of course, but to also find ways to hold that momentum through the summer and fall. When your goal sheet is covered in dust and you haven’t looked at it in months, will you still be equally as motivated to follow through on your goals?

Here is a list of ideas that will help you get motivated, but also keep you going when the times get tough and you’re not really thinking about what you wrote down on January 1st.

Outside Assistance

• Have an accountability buddy
  • I saw on Facebook that people are teaming up to work together to hold each other accountable. I think this is a fantastic idea for those who need a push (or a shove) to keep their goals.
• Get a life coach
  • A life coach is an individual there to listen and give sound advice on whatever it is you need help with. Whether it’s running, running a business, or keeping up with a busy life, someone to bounce ideas off of is very valuable.
• Get a running coach
  • You’ve signed up for races, but don’t have a plan to get you through the training. Coaches are designed to create adaptive and realistic plans to help you finish your race.
• Find your community
  • Online groups (or in-person as they become available again) are great resources to use to keep yourself motivated.

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Visual Goals

• Write down your goals
  • I use a goal sheet to refer back to throughout the year. I find that, just like note-taking, when I write them down and see them, I feel much more obligated to follow through. This year, I’m using His & Her Goal Setting Sheets. You can get yours here.
• Track your progress
  • My running is sacred to me. I live and breathe for getting my running in. I also track what I do religiously. Every run and every mile gets written about in my training log. I have kept track of all my running over the 21+ years I’ve been running. I use a digital training log now because it’s what I use for my runners. You can get yours here.

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Getting Automatic

• Have a nighttime & morning routine
  • Good routines are imperative if you’re going to reach all of your goals throughout the year. Having a routine gives your brain a chance to not think (or at least not over-think) and you’ll have more mental energy and time to focus on what really matters. My routine is simple: phone in airplane mode, read, and write intentions/tasks for the next day.
  • Similar to a night routine, a morning routine sets the intentions for the day. My morning is pretty similar each and every morning: make my tea, go to the bathroom, and exercise (more often than not, it’s a run).
• Celebrate the wins & have fun
  • Whether it is treating yourself to a nice meal after a personal best or something that will help you become even more successful, celebrating is super important to keep the momentum going. When you’re having fun you are way more likely to keep plugging away, especially when the going gets tough.

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Practice Patience

• Treat the year like a marathon, not a sprint
  • You probably hear this everywhere – treat your [goals] like a marathon, not a sprint – and for the most part, yeah, you should. Think long, long term and you’ll realize that there is no real pressure to get it done immediately.
• Chunk your day
  • This leads me to “chunking” your day. How can you chunk your day? Easily. This article will explain everything. Basically, cut up your day into tiny manageable segments. You’ll stay focused on the task at hand and you’ll get more done!
• Find your ‘why’
  • It’s so much easier to find an excuse if you don’t know why you’re doing something. Why am I blogging today? To help readers [primarily runners] run faster, be healthier, and train smarter.

Do you already know you won’t stick to your New Year’s goals? Try some of these 19 tips to help keep ya going!

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Take Care

• Get 7-8 hours of sleep
  • The most important thing I do each and every day is try and get 8 hours of sleep. Since I wake up early to run, that means I have to be in bed by 10.
• Exercise regularly
  • Exercise is good for me, just like it’s good for everyone. When I don’t exercise, I’m cranky. I plan each and every day out so I know when I’ll workout and what I’ll do. I also do great thinking on my runs and that helps hash out ideas, stories to tell, and life issues I’m dealing with.
• Limit/cut out junk food and alcohol
  • When you’re always functioning in a deficit, it’s hard to do quality work. For someone with a sweet tooth, I do my best to limit sweets. Last year’s resolution was to eat less than one treat per day. I stuck with it and I’ll continue that again this year.

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Be Thoughtful

• Daily gratitude
  • I know how powerful the mind is, so I will be incorporating this back into my routine. When I know how lucky I am, and I believe how lucky I am, I hope to be in a better frame of mind and know that I can achieve anything. I will use an app called Day One to track my gratitude.
• Become a planner
  • I’ve always been a Sticky Note kinda guy, but I’m growing up and I’ve found that while they are great, I tend to misplace them. I’ve created a one-stop Weekly Planner that has everything I need to get me through the week. Each week, I update it and I’m never stressed that I forgot to do something!

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Be Intentional

• Unplug/unwind from the “grind”
  • I’ve found that when I get away from trying to do everything, I actually end up doing more. I can occasionally get myself into trouble by burning the candle at both ends, and what usually helps is taking a screenless day to get back to normal.
• Keep learning
  • The more we learn, the better decisions we can make about our daily lives. I always strive to learn something – whether from a podcast, a video or something I’m reading.
• Limit and then eliminate procrastination
  • There are so many things pulling you away from reaching your goals. Set specific guidelines on how you’ll do your writing, your running, or whatever it is so that you are not distracted. This will also help you manage your time better so you have more time for the things you want to do instead of what you need to do.

Recap

Keeping New Year’s resolutions can be hard to do. My goal with this post is to show you that you can, with some help, keep up with the goals you set early in the year.

The following tips may help you with your new year goals: Commit to a very clear, achievable goal: Setting goals that are too broad or vague can discourage you or become overwhelming.

Get support: It is beneficial to work with a coach who can help you develop and test your plan. Most coach services offer clients an immediate action plan and can provide accountability and encouragement.

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Marc is a middle school Special Education teacher and the distance track and cross country coach who also works with distance runners seeking personal bests. He blogs at TrainwithMarc.com and writes a Friday newsletter. You can find everything Marc is working on here.

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TrainwithMarc will design a training plan based on your needs, running history, and your goals.

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