5 Ways to Stick to Your New Year’s Resolutions

When the New Year rolled around I pretty much didn’t even think about New Year’s Resolutions. I’m always a major failure at them. It seems like I’m good for the first couple of weeks (or days) and then it’s out the window.

But this year was a little different. I didn’t put too much pressure on myself. With a baby due in March I knew that “losing weight” wasn’t a good resolution or at least not until I had the baby. I knew that we had a lot of organizing to do around the house before Baby3 comes so I added that to my short list and since I love reading I added reading more to my list too.

So main goals were–

Get Organized and

Read More.

So far I’ve been doing pretty darn good!  According to my Goodreads app I’m 12% done with my goal of reading 25 Books this year which is right on track. Not too shabby! And then there’s getting organized, it’s slow going but we’re getting things done and I’ve been able to do it by following these 5 Simple Things.

1. KISS—Keep it Simple Stupid. But seriously. Keep it simple. My main problem has always been being excessive and complex in my New Year’s Resolutions. You don’t have to get too specific with your goals at least not at first!

2. Make Lists—My two main goals were to get organized and to read more. So I made lists for both. I went through an old book list that I had and updated it—took out the things I had already read and added books I’ve come across recently that I wanted to read. Just like that I had a go to. When it came to organizing I went by room and what needed to get done in each room to get more organized and I’ve been working off that list.

3. Start Small—You’ve kept your goals simple and broad and you’ve made lists now it’s time to get started. Start with the small things, yes your whole kitchen needs to be organized but don’t tackle it all at once! Start with a junk drawer or two. Cross things off your list every week and before you know it your final goal of “Organizing the Kitchen” will be done, until next year of course 😉

4. Enlist Help—Whether your Resolution is to lose weight, get organized or read more you can’t always do it on your own. Find a gym buddy to keep you motivated, blog about your journey to keep yourself accountable or join a book club! I’ve been using Goodreads to help me with my reading goal and it’s been great!

5. It’s never too late—Just because you broke your New Year’s Resolution in the first month doesn’t mean you can’t start it up again! It takes time to create a habit, just keep working at it. You can have good days and bad days when it comes to your New Year’s Resolutions just make sure that you’re still trying and in the end you should feel accomplished.

It’s only February! You still have plenty of time to make 2013 your best year yet and if you haven’t made a resolution why not start now? Play the Visa Prepaid Your Best Year Game to help come up with some resolution and you’ll be entered to win Premium Headphones or a $15 Visa Gift Card. Not an instant winner? You’ll be entered to win a Tablet PC with kickstand and touch keyboard!

Disclosure: I am blogging on behalf of Visa Prepaid and received compensation for my time from Visa for sharing my views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Visa’s. Discover more at http://www.VisaPrepaid.com or join the Visa Prepaid community at http://www.facebook.com/VisaPrepaid.