11 Tips For Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions This Time

New Year's Eve might not automatically spring to mind as a family occasion, but it's actually the best time to come together and create some family goals.

Our families are the most important thing in our lives, but somehow we get bogged down in making resolutions to lose weight or break silly habits and often forget to put them first.

The most common resolutions are to eat healthier, get fit and spend more time as a family, but according to studies, over 80% of your goals fail in the first months.

We've created a list of tips and tricks to ensure you and your family stay on track and motivated and achieve your dreams.

Even though your little ones might not make it to the first round of 'Auld Lang Syne,' it's so important to involve them in creating new year's resolutions you can all work together to keep.

Take some time on the 31st to reflect on what you've done well as a family in the past year, and also what you'd like to make it better for next year with our guide.

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Reflect On The Good

It's easy to remember what we could have done better, but the best way to start off planning for the new year is by reminiscing as a family over the things you all loved. Take turns telling your favourite memories of the past year.

You might be surprised at things your kids loved doing that weren't even on your radar.

Remind your little ones of things they've achieved, and get them thinking about the work they put in to help them get there. They'll feel proud of what they have done, and you'll motivate them to want to achieve more next year!

Share Resolutions

Include the whole family in new year's resolutions to make it easier to keep each other accountable. For example, setting a time limit on screen time for everyone will give you more incentive to find things to do together that don't include phones or the TV.

Make Them Specific

It's much harder to track each new year's resolution when they are vague, like getting fit. Decide on specifics and it'll be much easier to track whether you're doing well at achieving them.

For example, instead of aiming to eat more healthily, change your resolution to, 'swap afternoon biscuits for fruit,' or 'have three meat-less dinners every week,' to help you know when you're on track.

Don't Force Them

When your child makes their own goals and plays a part in creating the family ones too, they can take ownership over them.

This teaches them how to plan towards success. When you're creating your list, suggest areas to focus on, but try to ask your kids what they want for themselves.

If your kids have ideas you don't think are necessary - like collecting stickers or saving up for a new toy -  instead of trying to get them to change their mind, try to be open, and honour what your child sees as important.

Know The Why's

Once you've decided what you want to achieve as a family the most important step is to work out the reasons for your goals. For each New Year's resolution, write down three reasons why you want to achieve it, and stick this somewhere you can see them.

When you're struggling to stay on track, these reasons will put the resolution into perspective, and help remind you of why you want to create a change.

Incorporate Kindness

A little bit of kindness can make a big difference in the world, and one of the most important things to remember when creating your list is to find ways to create more kindness in your life. Can you think of people you could help or be kind to, as a family this year?

Acts of kindness have been shown to get your kids feeling happier, and being able to help others will be a resolution you'll want to stick to all year.

Stick To A Limit

Making a change to your everyday life can be exhausting - especially when you're trying to keep a whole family on track too. We recommend picking one or two resolutions that are the most important and focusing all of your energy on those. Once you've got those nailed, you can focus on more next time around.

Create Measurable Resolutions

Once you've created your new year's resolution list, adjust your wording to make sure you can measure them easily.

This is important in helping you track your progress and making sure you're working towards your family goals. If you choose goals that are daily or weekly, you can count the number of days or weeks that your family have kept up with their new year's resolutions.

To add to the incentive, you may want to set up a reward system, with family treats at the end of each month of achievement.

Set Daily Reminders

Remind yourself every day of your new year's resolutions, by sticking post-its in places where everyone will see them, like on the bathroom mirror or the fridge. Keeping them in the forefront of your mind will limit any slip-ups.

As a family, you may want to decorate signs for your plans - with your 'why's' on there too - and place them in important places to help you all remember your motivation.

Stay Positive

Setting goals can feel fun and achieving them can be cause for great celebration in your family. Ensure you're staying positive when you talk to your kids about their new year's resolution.

If it feels like a punishment, they may want to rebel.

If you wake up and present each day as an exciting opportunity to achieve your family goals, you'll help keep your little ones feeling good about their achievements.

Try not to nag about resolutions that aren't being met, if you can, Instead, let them know that you know it's hard to do, and help them work out how they may be able to change their approach. Keeping them excited about resolutions will keep them wanting to succeed.

Fail... But Then Carry On

Trying to keep your new year resolutions is hard.

80% of them fail for a reason, and even if you try your best, it's more than likely there will be times when you slip up and break your resolution.

It can be tempting to give up when you fall at the first hurdle, but adjusting to failure is one of the most important steps in making sure your goals are successful. If you're finding one far too hard to stick to, try to work out why, and make changes so it'll be easier to stick to.

For example, if your resolution is to spend 30 minutes a day exercising but you're finding it challenging, readjust your goal to be 5 times a week instead of every day.

Your goal is to be healthier as a family, and you'll still be doing that, but you won't be setting unrealistic expectations you can't stick to.