Top 3 New Year’s Resolutions - and Tips for Success!

It’s that time of year again, when we all reflect & set goals for the new year ahead, and cynics amongst us will tell you not to even bother buying a gym membership because you’ll have given up by February... But, we know different! If you’re reading this blog post then you’re a person making a plan, and I’m here to share all my tips with you to stick to it and enjoy your well deserved success in 2025!

Unsurprisingly, the top 3 New Year’s resolutions for 2025 are things that most of us can relate to: to save more money, to eat healthier and to exercise more. But no matter what your goals are, the tips below can be applied to any target.

Have a why

One of the most powerful ways to get yourself to do something, is to have a good reason that you believe in. It can be tempting to choose generic goals just because it’s something that you feel like to should want, but if you sit down and think about how it aligns with your overall ideal life, it doesn’t fit at all.

Getting specific about what you want to achieve and why can make all the difference in the world. For example, you may have the goal to increase your physical fitness. If you’re doing it because a family member told you to or maybe because of social pressure, then you’re not going to feel very motivated. On the other hand, maybe your kid has just started playing football and has asked you to train with him. Becoming fitter to spend more quality time with your kids might be a much better driver for you.

Have measurable, achievable targets

A goal such as ‘exercise more’ can be overwhelming to think about and effectively action, so breaking it down into smaller steps will make the path to success much more clear. For example, if you want to be more physically active, setting a daily step goal could be a practical way to achieve this. Alternatively, if you want to save £2000 towards a car, that can seem like a lot in one go, but if you break it down and put away £50 a week then you’ll reach your total in less than 10 months.

For the more intangible, lifestyle-based goals, it may be helpful to get some events in your calendar to help you focus your efforts. You could sign up for your first 5km run, or commit to a weekly hike with friends.

It’s also so important that your goals have an achievable end point. You can always extend them later on but if your targets have no measure of success then it can be really easy to lose motivation & feel like you’re never going to get there. ‘Have more money’ is a little vague, but ‘save £500 for a holiday’ is measurable, doable, and fun!

Stack your habits in favour of your goals

Habit stacking has become very popular recently and for good reason! The basic idea is that you add little microtasks on to the end of your existing habits until they become habits themselves, relying less on pure motivation or discipline and more on the habit loving nature of the human brain.

For example, if you make a cup of tea every morning, then you could do 10 squats whilst you wait for the kettle to boil. Maybe if your goal is to write a book & you ride the bus to work, you could make it a habit to write just 15 words every time you sit down on the bus.

Start by making a list of your existing habits, then see what microtasks you could add to start building up towards your goals. I always find that the hardest part of any task is getting started so you might just find yourself doing more than you thought you would!

Check in regularly and celebrate your little wins

A year can seem like a really long time to work on something so don’t forget to keep checking in on your progress and adjusting your course if necessary. Make sure you right down your goals, inspiration, mini targets and motivation right at the beginning, and look at it every week to keep your actions aligned with what you hope to achieve. Finally, take time to celebrate every little success along the way and enjoy the journey!

Set yourself up for success

There are infinite tools out there to help you to work smarter, not harder! I have loads of savings trackers, habit trackers, journal pages and more to help you on your journey available on my site, but I’m always adding more! If you’re looking for something that doesn’t exist, I’d love to hear about it - please drop me a message via my contact form & let me know what you’d like to see!