The New Year festivities are slowly becoming a distant memory and you’re gradually veering off the path you chose to follow when you made your resolutions for the next 365 days. This may bring about feelings of frustration and make you question why you made these resolutions in the first place.

Don’t panic! While it is cliché to make resolutions for the new year, don’t feel pressured or obligated to jump into everything right away. Don’t procrastinate either!

In order to fulfill your resolutions, you will have to

1. Be Realistic

Working with a set of small, realistic and attainable goals is certainly less overwhelming than that humongous goal that you set yourself on January 1^st. You have a more realistic chance of attaining whatever it is you are striving for when you break it down into small parts. It also becomes easier to stick to your new habits and increase your chances of long-term success.

2. Have a plan

You can’t achieve any goal without a plan. Behavioral change requires a lot of thought. Working towards a goal without any type of plan in place may result in you quickly giving up any time you face any sort of obstacle, difficulty, or resistance.

Write down your goals, draw up a road-map and take note of any roadblocks that could hamper attainment of your goals. Once you know exactly what you want to achieve and the challenges you may face, you are better equipped to achieve the goals set out in your resolution.

3. Gradually change your behavior

We develop habits, healthy and unhealthy, over time. You therefore shouldn’t feel stressed and think that you need to revert to default settings. Everything takes time, focus on changing one thing at a time.

4. Share your experiences

Yes! Share your experiences!  It is quite possible to attain growth through shared experiences and interactions. Identify a group of people to share your goals with. This makes your journey a lot easier and less intimidating.

5. Avoid being too hard on yourself

We unwittingly seek perfection as we chase after our dreams and goals for the year. It is wise to embark on this journey without seeking perfection. You will face many challenges, you will make mistakes along the way and that is OK.

You could have failed to meet certain objectives, skipped your training regime for one reason or another or broken your diet. Everything has its ups and downs; learn to bounce back from your mistakes and keep your eyes on the prize.

6. Renew your motivation

You will be full of confidence and highly motivated during the first few days spent pursuing your goals for the new year. This is because you really haven’t faced any discomfort or temptation related to behavior change. The moment your motivation starts to dwindle, you need to remember why you set out on this journey. Renew your motivation!

7. Keep working on your goals

Many people lose their motivational spark a few weeks into the new year. You can keep that inspiration alive by staying focused and continuously working on your goals, even after encountering roadblocks along the way. If this isn’t working, re-evaluate your strategies and develop a new plan but don’t stop working.

8. Build a support system

Make sure you have a support system. It could be friends or family but be sure to have people who will lend you an ear and offer advice when you need it. Get them to understand your goals and objectives; they should be able to give you the necessary advice and support to see you through the journey over the year.

Keep going, stay focused and work towards fulfilling your resolutions.