Every December, Raj, like many other people, starts to wonder what his New Year resolutions are going to be, and more importantly, how long is he going to be able to keep them.  In 2010, he was able to keep them for a total of 22 days. So much for all the talk about a new habit taking 21 days to form.

This year, however, Raj is determined to hold on to his New Year resolutions, and he is determined to do whatever it takes to do that. Luckily for him, it is really not that hard to hold on to New Year Resolutions – all it takes is a little planning and some determination.

1. Choose with Care. When you make a new year resolution, be sure that it is something that you want, and something that fits into your lifestyle. Don’t make a resolution just because it is something that is in fashion. It should be something that you really want to do. Most resolutions get broken because people choose too difficult a task for themselves.

Also, do not create a long list of resolutions. What is the point of having a long list of resolutions if you are not going to keep even one of them.  Keep the list of resolutions manageable.

2. Be ready when the time comes. Do not wait till the 31st to start working on your resolutions.  Start planing early, and begin working on them as soon as you can, so that by the time 1st comes you are ready for holding on to your resolutions.

Vijay found this trick quite useful in sticking to his resolution of quitting smoking. Every year he used to resolve to quit smoking. The first couple of days were always hard, and he would smoke a cigarette within  the first week of the New Year, and his resolution to quit smoking would go straight out of the window. This year he decided to quit smoking in the last week of the old year itself. Even though, he did smoke a couple of cigarettes during that last week, but by the time the New Year arrived he was ready to be smoke free.

3. Share it with the World. If you share your resolutions with as many people as you can, you are more likely to stick to your resolutions. The reason for this being twofold: One, you are going to try harder in order to avoid losing face in front of so many people, and two, you will have a larger number of people who will be reminding you of your resolutions and who will try to keep you on track towards achieving your goals.

4. Focus on the results. Every time you tend to become waver, and become weak, do not try to fight the urge to break the resolution, because as they say, “what you resist, persists”. Instead, focus on the reason for choosing that resolution in the first place. Then, focus on the result that you will get if you are able to stick to your resolutions.

5. Find a Resolution Buddy. If you have a friend or a relative who is facing similar problems with holding on to his New Year resolutions, make him your resolution buddy. Share your resolutions with each other, and then take responsibility for helping each other in sticking to your resolutions. You will not only be able to stick to your resolutions, but you might also end up strengthening your relations with that person.

So, have you started working on the list of your New Year Resolutions yet?

(Image Courtesy: enimal from sxc.hu)