How to Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions

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Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions yet?  Chances are that you have at least thought about them even if you haven’t decided to commit.  Think about those resolutions on your mind right now.  Perhaps you are planning to get in shape this year or eliminate debt.  Maybe you are hesitant to make any resolutions this year because you never keep them.  Do the goals you have look pretty much the same as they did last New Year’s?  Decide now to make this year different!  Keep your New Year’s resolutions this time around using these easy tips and free worksheet.

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How to actually keep your New Year’s resolutions this year to start being the person you want to be living the life you want to live!

 

[bctt tweet=”How to actually keep your #NewYears #resolutions this year to start being the person you want to be living the life you want to live!”]

Write Your List

When you first write out your resolutions, simply put whatever comes to mind.  It is okay to be very general and it is okay to have 10+ ideas on your list.  The only distinction I recommend making in the first step is to write separate lists for each your personal and professional goals.  Once you have a rough sketch of your goals, start on step 2.

Whittle Down Your List

If you have a ton of goals you would like to accomplish in the coming year, pare down your list.  Try to get down to no more than 4 or 5 goals on each list (personal and professional).  More than that will cause you to lose stamina and focus as the year wears on.  This year I’ve chosen 4 resolutions for my personal life:

Categorizing your goals can help give you a clear picture of where you most want to improve.  In addition to those listed above, think about these categories as well:

 

How to actually keep your New Year’s resolutions this year to start being the person you want to be living the life you want to live!

Define Actionable Steps

In order to truly be successful with your New Year’s resolutions you need more than just a general concept (like losing weight).  Take the time to define specific, actionable steps that you can take to achieve your resolutions.  Use this free printable New Year’s Resolutions worksheet to break down each of your resolutions into four parts: Materials Needed, Time Needed, Specified Activities, and Mini-Goals.

To give you an idea of what these worksheets should look like filled out here are 2 examples from my own resolutions:

 

How to actually keep your New Year’s resolutions this year to start being the person you want to be living the life you want to live!

Daily Yoga

Materials: The only materials needed for yoga are a mat and some form of learning/practicing the moves.  Because I used to do yoga every morning, I already own a mat and some DVD’s to work with.  I personally love any of the Yoga Zone DVD’s but you can also simple search on YouTube and find free workouts there.

Time: The only time needed for this is 20 minutes in the beginning because that it how long a workout lasts on my videos.  This is why it is important to define your materials first.  If you find a free workout video online, it may last only 15 minutes or it may last 30.  Take this into account when determining how much time will be needed.

Activities: Since daily yoga is fairly straight-forward and because I will be using videos that walk through an entire workout, there is no need to define specific activities.  If you plan to simply work through positions on your own, you might have variations of poses that get progressively more difficult and intense.  If you do not own a mat, shopping for one would be an activity to go on your list.

Mini-Goals: Your mini-goals section should never, ever be empty.  Mini-goals is the section that takes the information from the other columns and turns it into specific, measurable goals that can be accomplished.  This is the key component to actually keep your New Year’s resolutions.  Your mini-goals need to start small.  As you can see above, I will have to start getting up 30 minutes earlier each day in order to work daily yoga into my schedule.  Since I am not a morning person, my very first mini-goal is to get up at 6 am every morning for a week.  I am not changing anything else about my schedule in that first week other than my wake time.  This is small, measurable, and specific.  As the mini-goals progress they being building to bigger and bigger goals yet still remain specific and measurable. 

 

How to actually keep your New Year’s resolutions this year to start being the person you want to be living the life you want to live!

Become More Outgoing

Materials: There are no materials needed for me to work on this resolution.  I decided to create my own activities and challenges for myself to push me outside of my comfort zone.  If you need some direction or ideas, however, your materials list might include some books or a journal.

Time: The time required for this is minimal.  It might break down to possibly an hour a week.  Again, this was based on my materials, or lack thereof.  If you have a book you plan to read, you time required might be upwards of 20+ minutes per day spent reading and completing activities.

Activities: The specified activities for this were easy to come up with because I already know what activities make me uncomfortable.  For example, I am so shy that instead of speaking up and saying, “Excuse me” in a store to someone blocking the aisle, I will just wait for them to be done.  (For the record, I have already been working on this and I have already gotten much better.)  That’s why I chose to specify that I have to engage with a stranger when shopping.  I also love to sing and dance but when I’m in the car I get embarrassed if I think someone saw me.  For that reason, I am now challenging myself to always give it my all when singing and dancing in the car.

Mini-Goals: The mini-goals for this are more about creating a change of behavior so they do not build on each other.  The weekly goals will be consistent throughout the year however they are still small, specific, and measurable.  They will help create an accountability that will lead to the end result of a change in behavior.

 

How to actually keep your New Year’s resolutions this year to start being the person you want to be living the life you want to live!

Using these tips and free worksheet, there will be nothing holding you back this year!  Keep your New Year’s resolutions so that next year you can create new ones (that you’ll already have to tools to help you keep).  Use resolutions as tools to start being the person you want to be living the life you want to live!  What are your resolutions?  If you didn’t plan on having any, have I helped change your mind?  Let me know in the comments!

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Tips to Make Christmas Morning Easier

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Kids love Christmas morning.  Their excitement is palpable in the day (and sometimes weeks) leading up to the main event.  Unfortunately, parents are usually up late on Christmas Eve finishing all of those final details needed.  The stockings need to be filled, the gifts from Santa wrapped under the tree, and cookies need to be eaten.  While kids are lying in bed anxiously anticipating that magical morning, parents could stand to have a few more hours of sleep.  While I don’t have the secret to getting your kids to sleep later (although I’m totally open to suggestions), I do have some tips to make Christmas morning easier for you.

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Feet Standing Next to Presents Under a Christmas Tree with text overlay - Tips to Make Christmas Morning Easier

 

[bctt tweet=”These tips make Christmas morning easier and help you catch a few more zzz’s on the big morning. #Christmastips”]

1. Wrap Gifts in Unique Paper

If you have multiple Christmas events to attend, make it easier to quickly differentiate presents.  Wrap each family’s gifts in a different, unique paper.  When it’s time to pack up gifts for each event, simply grab all of the gifts under the tree wrapped in that paper.  This also makes it easier on your kids Christmas morning.  Let them know which paper is for your family and the rest stay under the tree until the event.

2. Let Kids Open Stockings

Put a rule in place that your kids can open their stockings without you.  This will buy you a few more moments of sleep in the morning.  Be sure to set limits on how many pieces of candy can be consumed in advance with your kids.  This is another reason these frugal stocking stuffer ideas are great ideas to prevent stockings simply filled with candy.

 

Close Up of Sausage French Toast Breakfast Bake

3. Prep the Night Before

Make the early morning as easy on you as you can by doing prep work the night before.  Make a breakfast casserole that can be thrown in the oven while you’re opening gifts.  Get the coffee pot ready so that you can just hit a button for your morning caffeine.  Any early morning staples you and your family have, prep as much as you can on Christmas Eve.  This makes being a zombie in the morning slightly easier.

4. Get Electronics Ready

Make sure you have extra batteries or that the batteries are charged for your cameras.  Empty micro SD cards to ensure that you have plenty of space for Christmas photos.  Check and test all of these things a few days prior to Christmas so that you can get any replacements or repairs before stores are closed.

5. Empty Receptacles

There is a lot of waste on Christmas morning between wrapping paper, bows, tags, and item packaging.  Be prepared by taking out your trash and emptying recycling containers the night before.  This will make clean-up much easier on the big day.

6. Get Tools Ready

A lot of toys need to be assembled and some gifts just have tricky, hard-to-open packaging.  Get tools ready (or at least located) on Christmas Eve.  Some good tools to have ready are:

Basic tools like these will be immensely handy on Christmas morning.

 

Feet Standing Next to Presents Under a Christmas Tree with text overlay - Tips to Make Christmas Morning Easier

These tips can make Christmas morning easier and help you catch a few more zzz’s.  What other ways do you make Christmas morning easier for your family?  Let me know in the comments!

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Feet Standing Next to Presents Under a Christmas Tree with text overlay - Tips to Make Christmas Morning Easier

 

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4 Tips to Get in the Holiday Spirit

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The holidays are a magical time of joy and celebrations.  The season reminds of what’s important and encourages making more time for family.  Unfortunately, life doesn’t always respect that notion.  Whether you are dealing with money problems, sick children, or marriage troubles, sometimes it can be hard to get in the holiday spirit.  The stress and pain of your circumstances make it hard to put on the brave face and deck the halls.  If this is you this year, here are 4 tips to get in the holiday spirit.

 

Here are 4 tips to help you get in the holiday spirit if you're struggling to find cheer this year amidst existing life stress.

 

[bctt tweet=”Here are 4 tips to help you get in the #holiday #spirit if you’re struggling to find cheer this year amidst existing life stress.”]

 

Remember What the Season is About

First and foremost, you have been given the amazing gift of forgiveness through Christ.  That is the best gift that you could ever receive.  Sometimes when you are struggling it helps to remember this beautiful truth.  Secondly, if you have children it is important to remember that they don’t understand the issues going on in your life.  They do notice your mood and they will definitely notice if you’re having trouble not getting the tree up this year.

 

Here are 4 tips to help you get in the holiday spirit if you're struggling to find cheer this year amidst existing life stress.

Put up Your Decorations

It may be the last thing you feel like doing but it can be beneficial to force yourself to put up your decorations.  Having the décor surround you can actually help to lift your mood.  It can be especially beneficial to infuse comforting holiday scents that you enjoy.

To help make the process easier, get the kids involved.  True, your tree probably won’t have the meticulously designed look that it has when you do it but the creativity your kids will show can also help improve your spirits.  Trust me; there is something hilarious about a 7 foot tree decorated by kids less than 4 feet tall.  Your kids will also love having control over such an iconic part of your holidays.

Write It Out

Instead of sending out cards this year, write heartfelt letters to friends and family.  Don’t just give an update on your life and kids.  Focus on the recipient and write with the express intention of giving them joy during this sometimes stressful season.  Purposefully uplifting others also helps to boost your own mood.  It is an excellent way to spread joy and love whilst also benefiting you.

Another way to write it out is to use a free-form journal.  This is a great tool to help you work through pain, worry, and frustration that you may be feeling.  There are tips for how to use this journal on the tutorial but for this specific instance I recommend mutilating the page after you have written out your feelings.  Physically destroying the words you’ve written can be very cathartic and help you move on.

 

Here are 4 tips to help you get in the holiday spirit if you're struggling to find cheer this year amidst existing life stress.

Take a Personal Day

Once of the best things you can do for yourself during times of stress is to take a personal day.  Take a day off to do something that is completely unrelated to the holidays.  If you need ideas, here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • See a movie
  • Read a book you’ve been putting off
  • Get pampered at the spa
  • Get to the gym
  • Take a hike
  • Check out free classes being offered in your area

The most important thing to remember is to do it alone.  You may be tempted to ask a friend or your spouse but this will be most effective done on your own.  We are never truly ourselves until we are alone and it is important to have some alone time to recharge.

These 4 tips to get in the holiday spirit can help you turn your holiday around but also know that there is nothing wrong with you if you are struggling this year.  It is normal for the pressure of the holidays to exacerbate the issues that you are already facing.  If you are having a hard time, it is okay to take the time to mope and wallow (as long as you set a specific amount of time in which to do so).  Once you have, choose to fake it ‘til you make it, as they say.  This can be powerful and you will wake up one morning and realize you are not faking it anymore.

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