8 Tips For Sticking To Your 2024 Wellness Resolutions

It’s the time of year when we’re all starting to make a list of ambitious resolutions in an effort to become the best versions of ourselves in the new year. This is a worthwhile exercise when done correctly, but can often lead to disappointment and frustration when resolutions are set with unrealistic expectations. To avoid falling into a resolution slump in 2024, try following the tips below to make your health and wellness resolutions more achievable and successful.

1. Break bigger ideas into smaller specific goals

When deciding which resolutions to add to your list, make sure they’re not too broad. For example, saying ‘I want to be healthier in 2024’ is a great sentiment, but is very vague and doesn’t address specific areas that you want to improve upon. Instead, break this resolution down into smaller and more specific goals that you can track. 

So, instead of ‘be healthier’ your resolution(s) could be to ‘take my multivitamin every day’ or ‘get at least eight hours of sleep every night’. Other popular goals within this theme include ‘drinking at least two litres of water per day’ and ‘getting in all 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day’. These are goals that are simple to measure and are therefore more achievable than a vague idea of a healthy lifestyle. The key is to identify the areas in which you’d like to develop healthier habits and use that knowledge to set yourself some specific goals for 2024.

2. Visualise your goals and success

When your resolutions are nothing more than a tangled mess of hopes and aspirations inside your head, they can be easy to forget or even ignore. However, if you find a way to make them more tangible, concrete, and memorable, they will be easier to stick to. There are lots of ways to do this, such as journaling about your goals or creating a vision board that visually represents your resolutions and aspirations for 2024. 

These physical manifestations of your goals can help motivate you to achieve them and visualise the difference these achievements can make in your life. It also helps you avoid forgetting important ideas for healthier choices you can incorporate into your daily routine. 

3. Make sure your resolutions are realistic

Shooting for the stars is great, but not every goal has to be incredibly difficult to achieve in order to be worthwhile. Resolutions that are realistic and attainable are much more likely to offer a successful outcome than those which are impractical. For example, saying ‘I will lose half my of body weight in the first 3 months of 2024’ is very specific but is also unlikely to be attainable, as well as being an unhealthy and dangerous approach to weight loss. 

Instead, something like ‘I’m going to gradually lose 15 pounds in the first 3 months of 2024 by going to the gym at least three times per week, taking my supplements, and cutting down on takeaways’ is a realistic option that is much safer and more achievable. Weight loss won’t necessarily be your goal, but it’s a common resolution that many people give up on because they don’t see instant, drastic results. This principle and the idea of realistic resolutions can apply to any goal you have in mind.

4. Involve accountability partners

Even when you’ve written down your resolutions or created a vision board for yourself, you may feel tempted to tuck them in the back of the wardrobe and pretend they don’t exist when things get hard. However, if there’s someone cheering you on, keeping up to date with your progress, motivating you, and supporting you, giving up wouldn’t seem like such a viable option. This is why many people who are determined to stick to their resolutions involve accountability partners. Just the idea of someone knowing about the goal you want to achieve can motivate you to keep working at it. 

Accountability partners can come in the form of a friend, family member, colleague, or even an online community. The idea is that you always have someone or somewhere to share your goals, successes, and challenges, allowing others to help keep you on track. You can even do this mutually by simultaneously helping each other stick to your resolutions. The key is that remembering that you’re not alone and have someone rooting for you can keep you on a path to success.

5. Make your resolutions part of your routine

Resolutions that fit seamlessly into your daily routine are typically easier to stick to. For example, if your goal is to eat more fruits, you could make this a part of your breakfast routine or even incorporate it as a healthy dessert after dinner in place of more processed alternatives. Or, if you want to add a new supplement to your regimen, taking it at the same time as your current vitamins, supplements, and medications makes this a simple and seamless transition that you can easily stick to. 

This doesn’t mean you can’t have resolutions that require a change in your routine, it’s just about fitting them around your existing lifestyle rather than the other way around. For example, if you usually get the bus home from work but would like to get more exercise, you could choose to walk or cycle some or all of the journey instead. As you would be taking the journey home anyway, this is a great way to fit a resolution into your existing routine. This is especially useful if you don’t have time to dedicate to working out (or whatever your resolution may be) outside of your existing routine. Any positive change is worthwhile, so don’t worry that the adjustments you make may seem small. In reality, they have the potential to make a big difference!

6. Don’t forget to track your progress

Setting goals and achieving them aren’t the only two key steps in the resolution process. It’s also important to track your progress throughout your journey. Make sure not to beat yourself up if you notice missteps or imperfections along the way. Instead, use the information to gain valuable insights into the places where you succeed with ease, as well as the areas you could work on improving. This allows you to continue to move forward with your goals in a more productive way.  

For example, if your resolution is to ‘drink less than 6 alcoholic beverages per week’ it’s a good idea to track how this goes. You may notice specific challenges to keep in mind. For example, weekends may involve more alcohol than weekdays, or certain social outings might encourage alcohol consumption more than others. You may also notice positives. For example, some weeks may have been completely alcohol free, or you may see a steady decline in alcohol consumption over the span of a few weeks or months. The key is to use these insights as motivation to keep going with your goals and to create a roadmap for maintaining or improving upon your progress. 

7. Adjust and adapt your goals as needed

Achieving your goals is very rewarding, but you can still allow yourself some flexibility along the way. Life can be unpredictable, and factors out of your control may make it difficult to stick to certain goals or timelines. Instead of giving up entirely or being hard on yourself when things don’t go as planned, try to adapt your goals so they fit your new situation.

For example, if your main goal is to ‘run three miles every other day’ but a few weeks in you end up with an injury in one of your knee joints, it’s okay to adjust your goal. In this situation, you may decide to try a lower impact exercise that won’t exacerbate your injury and allows it to heal healthily, such as swimming. This option offers a low impact form of exercise that’s easy on the joints and still provides a calorie-crushing full body workout. Following this principle, you can stick to any of your goals by adjusting them to fit your new situation, rather than giving up or forcing yourself to continue something that may do more harm than good in your new circumstances.

8. Celebrate and reward small victories

If you have a specific end goal, it may be easy to overlook all the small milestones you reach along the way. However, recognising and rewarding your progress, no matter how small it may seem, helps build momentum and reinforces positive behaviours. Treating yourself when reaching a milestone is a great way to motivate yourself to keep going while also patting yourself on the back for everything you've already achieved. 

For example, if your goal is to go to the gym at least three times per week and you manage to go four times per week for multiple weeks in a row, that is definitely worth celebrating and rewarding. You might decide to treat yourself to a nice dinner out, or maybe a new item of clothing you’ve had your eye on. Some people also find it useful to know what their rewards will be in advance for further motivation. For example, a reward like ‘new workout clothes’ may be more motivating than just the vague idea of a reward, especially if you have something specific in mind. Either way, make sure you celebrate your victories as this helps keep you on a positive path and reminds you of the progress you’re making. 

Final thoughts

New year’s resolutions can either feel like a massive burden or a source of inspiration. Following the tips above helps reframe them into the latter, while keeping you motivated and focused. Remember, be specific, visualise your goals, set realistic resolutions, involve accountability partners, incorporate your goals into your routine, track your progress, adjust and adapt your goals as needed, and celebrate small and large victories along the way. With these steps in mind, you’re on your way to a very healthy and successful 2024. Good luck!!