New Year, New You.

New year, new you. That’s the phrase we see almost every January.

Shed and release the old to make room for the new.

BUT getting into a new routine is easier said than done...

Life happens, and sometimes our goals get pushed aside or forgotten. oh well!

But not this year. 2019 is the year!

Here are some practical, POP top tips that you can apply to your 2019 goals.

Think About the Why?

If you want your new routine to stick, first have a think about the reasons  behind your resolutions and goals. For example, if your goal is “I want to exercise more,” that may not be a strong enough motivator to make your exercise habit stick. Instead, think about why doing more exercise will improve your life, like, “When exercise, my mood improves, and I feel better.”

As you think about your resolutions for this new year, ask yourself: Why do I want to make this change? Why is this resolution important to me?

Dream Big But Start Small

If your goal is to learn to speak fluent Italian, this doesn’t mean you should start with spending an hour every day (though you could). It means you could start with 10 minutes of listening to Italian audio, or it could be something as small as sticking some Italian vocabulary words around the house.

Rome wasn't built in a day...

By repeating this 10 minute behavior day after day, it will eventually become a routine. And once you have your vocabulary words all over the house,  you’ll probably learn them. Soon enough, those words will become second nature and you'll be ready for new words.

Whatever your resolution is, think about a short action that you can easily implement into your everyday life.

Create a Habit Anchor

Find an activity that you already do on a daily basis that is around the time you want to carry on with your new routine.  It can be brushing your teeth, making a pot of tea, coming home from work, or feeding your cat. Something simple.

Whatever your habit anchor is, you’ll want to link it to your new routine. By connecting your action with a habit anchor and the right motivation, studies have shown you’re significantly more likely to achieve your resolution.

Think about it like this: After I feed my cat (anchor), I will read my Italian vocabulary words (action), which will help me with my goal to learn Italian because I want to be able to speak to the hot Italian guy at the gym (motivation).

It might take some trial and error to find the anchor, habit, and motivation that works best for you, so be patient and kind with yourself during this process, maybe eat some gourmet popcorn.