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when you attain those smaller goals you set. This doesn't mean that if your resolution is to diet you can eat an entire box of chocolates. Instead, celebrate your success by treating yourself to something positive that you enjoy.
4 ) Don't beat yourself up. Obsessing over the occasional slip up won't help you achieve your goal. Do the best you can each day, and take one day at a time. You are human and everyone experiences setbacks and falls off track once in a while. The important thing is to recognize this and return to better choices right away.

5) Stick to it/Stay with it. It takes about 6 weeks for a new activity/behavior to become a habit, and 6 months for it to become part of your personality.
6) Keep trying. If your resolution has totally run out of steam by mid-February, don't despair. Start over again! There's no reason you can't make a "New Year's
Resolution" any time of year. Do not go for too long before getting back to healthier
choices. If you get off track on Monday, do not give up the rest of the week. Get
right back to your plan on Tuesday.
7) Make tasks and goals non-negotiable. People who are most successful at
implementing changes are those who make their tasks non-negotiable. For example, if in the morning you debate with yourself whether you feel like getting up to exercise, you will probably opt for staying in bed for another half-hour. But if getting up for exercise is no more negotiable than getting up for work, then you'll do it regardless of how you feel about it. We can almost always find an excuse not to do the things we need to do. However, if you make a non-negotiable decision that's based on a sound
logical reason rather than on how you feel at the moment, you will be successful.
8) Do it now. If you're waiting for a more convenient time to begin behavioral change, it won't happen. It's almost never convenient to change ingrained habits. Now is just as good a time as any. Avoid the common pitfall of saying you will start to
exercise diet next month, in the spring, or another time. Chances are when the
"other time" arrives there will be other reasons to wait. Also if you begin now rather than later, you'll have a jump on a healthier and more satisfying future.

Learn more about this author, Lori Newell.
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