5 ways to succeed in your resolutions

It seems that sometimes we set goals and resolutions for the New Year, and before we know it , we are "cheating" or "failing" and get overwhelmed and disappointed and give up. I know, I have before.

So how can we avoid it? How can we actually accomplish our goals/resolutions?

Here are a few ideas to help succeed:

1. Write them down:  Those who write goals and BE SPECIFIC with them, are more likely to reach their goals than those who just think them or even say them. It phyisically gets the idea out. There is research and numbers on how much more likley you are to succeed in them, but I am not going to pretend to remember what they are.

2. Accountability aka "Phone a Friend": its so much easier to reach goals with help and encouragement. I found it easier to lose my baby weight after a friend called me and sad "lets do this together and check in every so often"(which reminds me I have a call to make!) it also helped me to blog about it. Call someone to go run with you or (its easier when someone is waiting for you) or discuss the struggle of your goal of "not swearing" they may give you some great feedback and you build your relationship along the way.

3 Give yourself a break: every day is a new day. So you want to lose weight? And last night you splurged at Olive Garden with all the yummy breadsticks and a slice of tiramisu? Oh well!!!!! It tasted good! Today is a new day. You can only control here and now. Beating yourself up over yesterday is only going to assist in sabotaging your goal. Think positive! Tell yourself what you would tell a friend.

4. break it down. make them simple. sometimes we have these big goals and don't think about the steps. Make the small steps to get there a goal. i.e. you want to run a 5k? great. what do you need to do to get there? Make a January goal of reseraching and chosing a program and buying shoes. February try one run a week. March twice a week. April choose a race and up your time or milage. Take it one step at a time. by June you may be ready to run a race. And not only have you completed your 5k, but you have many small wins in the meantime. Just getting your foot out the door is a win!

5. Give yourself credit: when you reach your goal or hose small goals, reward yourself! how about a coffee or put it on facebook or get a massage. Or just tell yourself "good job". And believe it.

These are just a few.

What tips or ideas do you have? What has helped you reach your goals?