During the New Year, the masses start buckling down placing huge goals and changes on their lifestyles. Whether it’s to lose weight, eat healthier, work harder in school, be a better person, etc, these immediate decisions are taken on by many across the world.

What is it about a new year that gives us the feeling of a fresh start? While asking those who place resolutions upon themselves, the general feedback is that New Years is more of a mental state. A motivation to accomplish goals and change their lifestyle in some way. A new year is a starting point; a time to forget the past and move forward productively.

Is a declaration of a goal a guaranteed accomplishment? The answer is no. A change takes work and persistence; you must be passionate about what you want to achieve and go the distance. Many times announcing to complete something is a subconscious way of avoiding the task. How many times have you said over and over you were going to do something but didn’t? The majority would say quite frequently.
After creating a New Year’s resolution, many break them. Instead of trying harder or going about a different approach to reach their goal, giving up is often what follows. For example, when many have the goal to eat healthier, and they splurge on desserts one day, they decide that their goal was a failure and give up. If students decides to work harder in school and they fail a test, they decide it’s hopeless and don’t try harder the next time.

The key to sticking to your resolution is to take it on in spurts. Think of your goal a week at a time. If mistakes are made during that week, don’t completely disregard your goal, think of next week as a new start. There is always tomorrow.

Tackling a long term goal can be achievable by taking baby steps. Diving into new behavior can be overwhelming and results in relapsing into old habits. Do smokers don’t drop cold turkey? No. They wean off their unhealthy addiction. Resolutions should be processes, not sudden changes.
The keys to a successful New Year’s resolution are patience, persistence, and relative thinking. With these factors, anything is possible.