Happy New Year everybody! It's not too late to make those New Year’s Resolutions come true if you’re ready to think a little differently about them.

We all know how hard it is to keep New Year's resolutions but that doesn’t stop us from optimistically setting our goals for the year ahead. Over many years of miserable failures I’ve come to realize there are a few simple maneuvers which work well with whatever kind of lifestyle change you are considering. Whether you are giving up something, or starting something new, consider these three suggestions for resolution success!

Resolution Lite

Often the changes we’d like to see are a long way from the reality that we are living. Setting lofty resolution goals often seem doomed to failure. So setting achievable goals for resolutions is a good place to start.

Giving up alcohol is a popular resolution which has created the Dry January phenomenon.

Thousands of people completely abstain for the first month of the year and feel they have done themselves a power of good. This is true but perhaps the real health benefit is to bring down alcohol intake year round. For somebody who likes a drink but wants to cut down, a restricted intake resolution might be more achievable and will bring considerable health benefits. Reducing alcohol intake improves digestion, mood, sleep, energy levels, blood pressure, heart health and reduces cancer risk.

The Plan

Many many times my New Year’s resolution has been to learn Spanish. I’ve tried and tried but despite subscriptions to Duolingo and Babel I have never persevered.

Recently I found a teacher on Youtube who I find really easy to follow. He has 50 tutorials which complete his Spanish Proficiency course.

I’m planning to do one or two tutorials a week, do an hour that week practicing the lessons and then move on to the next. I am giving myself the whole year to complete the course.

A plan like this gives structure to incorporating something new in your life. Create the plan that you feel you can realistically achieve, make sure not to overload yourself and turn a good idea into a groansome chore!

Little by Little

Resolutions are indications of how we want to be and to realize our aims we need to strategize. Our desire to succeed can be bolstered by small, incremental successes. A good example is learning to meditate, incredibly good for our health, notoriously difficult to learn to do!

Instead of trying to meditate for half an hour, start a three minute a day meditation. Set an alarm and sit, eyes closed, focussing on your inhale and exhale of breath.When you can meditate for three minutes you can add on a couple of minutes and onward until you reach your desired meditation time.

Incremental paths to new activity are encouraging, it’s uplifting to feel a sense of achievement and make ultimate goals come true!