Experts weigh in on making, keeping New Year resolutions

As the dust settles on New Year celebrations, the focus has shifted to planning for the year ahead. New Year is a time for reflection, a chance to think about the year gone by and to sharpen your aspirations.

A New Year Resolution can often streamline your goals. The most popular are wanting to shed the festive season weight, find love or target that promotion and attain financial freedom.

Champagne bottles have popped, balls have dropped, you’ve stuffed yourself with as much Christmas treats as you could stomach, and the new year has begun.

With all the hype around New Year Resolutions, family and friends are already keeping watch on each others goals. Some people love the tradition of setting a goal on the first of January while others argue it’s a waste of time since most resolutions fail by Valentine’s Day.

But if you’re feel extra motivated, clinical psychologist, Rakhi Beekrum, has some tips to keep the momentum going.

“The top reasons those New Year resolution fail is because they are not intentional enough. We make them because they are trendy, not because they are meaningful to us. The resolution actually failed to take into account our lifestyle. I recommend recognising that as life happens, our priorities change. During the year, reassess whether this goal is important to us. Instead of general goal like weight loss, focus on habits you want to incorporate. Example, I want to drink a glass of water every hour or I want to use the stairs.”

One of the top New Year Resolutions always is losing weight and leading a healthier lifestyle. Maybe it’s to atone for past failures.

Life and health coach, Timera Ramlall, says the trick is to go easy on yourself and gradually incorporate healthier meals in your diet.

“Start small. Take your time to gradually get your diet cleaner. Instead of fried food, grill them, use an air fryer, steam your food. Increase the amount of clean food in your meal prep. Move away from sugar to honey, eat dark chocolate instead of normal chocolate. Take your time, it’s a gradual process. In this way, you won’t fall off the wagon because you wont feel deprived.”

An afternoon run or an hour-long fitness class sounds like punishment for the festive season over-indulgence.

Ramlall says stop taking the fun out of being healthy, be kind to yourself and do what works for you.

“Experiment with different eating disciplines, intermittent fasting, keto the Mediterranean diet. Try those and see what works for you. Get a buddy where you can stay accountable with your goals. Try to work out first thing in the morning before the day wants to get ahead of you. Before you find excuses, just get put of bed and get it 20 to 45 minutes of a work out. Also, just have fun, don’t be too strict. Don’t squeeze he fun out of being healthy.”

Financial health in 2023 is another top goal for many.

Personal finance expert, Moeshfieka Botha, says planning for Janu-worry should focus on necessities like food and school uniform.

“Daily necessities, getting rid of debt, as well as school fees, school uniforms and stationary should be top of mind as we plan for January. Look at where we can scale down. When we scale down, we free up disposable income.”

Whether you’ve joined the New Year resolution brigade or not, it’s the time of the year for new beginnings and second chances. As the experts say, if you fall off the wagon, it’s okay. Pat yourself on the back and get back up – OR NOT!