How to Push Through New Year's Resolution Burnout

We're quickly approaching the last week of January. During the past few weeks, I'm sure you've been keeping on track for your 2023 New Year's Resolutions, and you still have the same fire you had on January 1st.

Right?

Probably not. But the best part is that it's totally normal to start feeling burnout right now, and slowing progress on your goals.

Why Do We Get Burned Out on Our Goals

The main issue with keeping consistent on our New Year's Resolutions is the expectations we place on them.

We often get excited while making them, and dream up lofty achievements we wish to complete over the coming year. This excitement causes us to have goals bigger than we are willing to or have the actual time to commit to. We then start to feel the weight of these goals a few weeks into the year, skip them for a day or two, and ultimately forget about them by February.

I was a chief offender of quitting New Year's Resolutions before the first month was over; however, I discovered the below 3 key tips for staying on track and following through with my goals.

1. Reevaluate Your Resolutions

The best thing about our resolutions is they aren't set in stone and can be adjusted as time goes on.

As mentioned above, the issue with the majority of our resolutions are that we make them to ambitious for us to follow through on. So instead of quitting them outright, we can adjust our goals to a more realistic standard. 

For example, one of my past resolutions was the do yoga for 45 minutes everyday. The first week went great, the second alright, and by the third I was skipping a few days due to soreness. I realized I was trying to push myself too hard, but instead of giving up, I decided to reduce my goal to 20 minutes everyday. Not only was this pace better for my yoga level, I have been consistently doing yoga since I adjusted my goal.

Since the endgame of resolutions is creating long-term habits, it's much more beneficial to reduce your pace than to quit altogether

2. Have an Accountability Partner

Every resolution is easier to stick to when you have someone besides yourself holding you accountable.

If you are someone who finds it easier to do work in groups, or are more motivated when you aren't doing something alone, then this tip will make a world of difference. For 2023, a friend and I decided to have a weekly call to check in and report progress on our goals. Not only has this made it easier to have consistent progress, but it's become an event I look forward to every week.

Whether it's having a friend who you check in with on a regular basis, or an online group with similar goals, having people along for the journey not only makes resolutions easier to stick to, but also more fun.

3. Start a Friendly Wager

This point takes accountability partners to the next level. If you're a competitive person, then this tip will definitely help you stay on track.

Just as it sounds, one way to stay consistent with your goals is to have a wager set up between another person, or a group, where the loser faces consequences. I've seen this work wonders for even the most unmotivated individuals. 

Last year, my friend group wanted to help our buddy who was having trouble working out consistently. We had tried almost everything to no avail, but noticed he was extremely competitive when it came to any type of game. 

So we decided to have a fitness challenge month where the contestant who completed the most healthy habits would win a free steak dinner. To our amazement, our friend who was always inconsistent with working out beat us all and has since kept moderately healthy despite not having a wager.

When in doubt, it's always worth a try to start a wager. The best part is you can be as creative as you want with the rules and reward systems