CREDIT: ISTOCK (EXDEZ)
Keeping up with your New Year's resolutions can be difficult, but there are steps one can take to help keep going the whole year.

A lot of us have set up a New Year’s resolution in the past and just gave up. Admit it, almost all of us have been there. Some people make it up to two to three weeks and then start giving up, some people don’t even last a week.

New Year’s resolutions can sometimes be hard to keep working on and some just become too lazy to keep going with theirs.

So the question is, what way can we stick with a New Year’s resolution? Here’s my advice…

Set up a clear goal. If you have too many goals at once, it’ll become overwhelming and that’s what causes people to give up.

When you’re trying to do too many things at once, it’s like running forwards and backwards.

For example, if your New Year’s resolution is to gain muscle and lose body fat at the same time, it’s not going to work out. Both of those require different diets and different routines. Focusing on one goal at a time will get you faster results.

Write out a detailed plan. If you think you’ll relapse, which is okay, brainstorm some ideas on how you can get back on track.

For example, maybe your New Year’s Resolution is to go for a jog/ walk at least once a day, find out a way to make up for the days that you missed… such as if you skip one day of jogging/walking, spend a longer time the next day you go out for one.

Help yourself become motivated. For most of us, motivation is a hard thing to have. It doesn’t always come naturally. Most of the time, it doesn’t. You can always have a helping hand from your friends or your family. Ask them to take part in your New Year’s resolution. Maybe have them send you a motivational quote or simple text every morning such as “hey, I believe in you. You are capable of doing and achieving anything”. Or, write down motivational quotes. Stick them on your mirror, or even set some as a reminder on your phone so that you receive a notification everyday.

Start building your discipline. Talk to yourself in the mirror if you must. Remind yourself that hard work and effort will be worth it in the end. You also have to remember why you started in the first place. You can’t let your laziness get the best of you.

For example, if your New Year’s resolution is to learn some new recipes to cook for yourself or for your family, in those minutes you wasted thinking to yourself “do I really want to learn and cook today?” you could have already read a new page of a recipe.

Above all, the most important thing to do in order to manage your New Year’s Resolution(s) is to keep your head in the game. Dreams don’t work unless you do. Believe in yourself and the best results will be yours soon enough.