It’s the most wonderful time of the year. After this month people seem to unwrap their good intentions and lay them out for the new year. But it’s not always that easy to create new habits out of thin air. While almost half of all Americans set New Year’s resolutions for themselves, only about eight percent actually achieve these goals. So how can you keep those gym memberships from going to waste, and those healthy salads from turning back into cheeseburgers? Read more to find out!

Write your goals down.

The biggest problem with New Year’s resolutions is that most people have not explicitly made them before the first of January comes. Keeping your aspirations locked up in your mind is what will hold you back from being accountable in achieving them. Whether it’s writing the goals down on a poster in your room or making reminders on your phone, you need something to motivate you. You can even let a few friends know about your resolutions so that they can keep you accountable and vice-verse. Motivation is a key factor in being able to keep up with all of your goals this new year. People who name their specific goals are ten times more likely to achieve them as opposed to people who don’t, so write them down anywhere and everywhere as soon as you think of them.

Start small.

Another big issue with people setting goals for themselves during the New Year is that they set their goals way too high. Don’t get me wrong, it is very impressive and inspirational that you want to give up sugar completely, but maybe the best thing to do is to ween yourself off of it slowly. By taking baby steps towards the biggest goal you have, it makes it seem that much  less overwhelming in the beginning.

List the Steps.

The big obstacle with humans is that we have trouble following through. About half of the people who make resolutions fail to achieve them. 75% of people maintain their goal through one week and only 46% of people maintain it through six months. A way that you can avoid becoming one of the many ashamed Americans is by listing the steps you need to take to get your goal. Do not only write your goal down, but also decide how you are going to change your daily routine in order to reach it. For example, if you wanted to lose weight then you can’t just snap your fingers and do it. You need to write down that you might, for example, drink more water, shop for healthier food, or work out at least three times a week and so on. Knowing these steps makes you more aware of the decisions you make in your day to day life.

Why wait?

Since when does the time of the year have to govern your life? You can make a resolution for yourself any time of the year and if you wait until January first then you are just putting off tomorrow what you could have done today. My suggestion is to start your New Years resolution right now. You still have two weeks until that January day so you might as well get a head start. And if it’s the middle of the summer and you want to change yourself, don’t use the rest of the year as an excuse to wait until January first to change. The biggest part about being able to achieve your goals for the New Year is how much you put into it. It has to be important to you in order to get it done. Don’t write yourselves off Kadets, instead, write your goals down, and you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve.