A new year means a new opportunity to stop telling yourself ‘no I don’t have time’ and to start acting on what you really want. It can be hard to break away from your normal routine, especially when you have other humans or animals to worry about in your life. But, sticking to a New Year’s resolution this year can be enjoyable and in the end, worth it.

Here are five tips to send you on your way to a rewarding 2020 year.

1. Start small and work your way up – Life is busy, don’t try and conquer the world the first month. Instead, start with eating an apple or banana a day. Increasing your fruit intake with natural sugars can help you stay more alert and live a healthier lifestyle every day.
   
   
2. Don’t try to change overnight; focus on one thing at a time – Instead of writing down a list of 10 goals you want to accomplish this year, start with one. Create a plan for how you will complete this goal and focus on substituting something negative in your life with something that is important to you.
   
   
3. Get other people to join you and make it rewarding – Get a group together or simply find a partner to be your accountability buddy. Having someone else to share your thoughts and struggles with while trying to accomplish your resolution can make it easier to get through.
   
   
4. If you start falling behind, you’re fine, breathe and keep working on it – No one is perfect, and things are going to get busy, so cut yourself some slack if you forget about your goal. Refocus and try to continue going in the direction of success.
   
   
5. Is your resolution SMART – We have all heard it before, SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. While deciding what your resolution will be this year, make sure it has all five of these components to make it achievable.

Take out a notepad, pull up a  sticky on your laptop desktop or put an alert on your cell phone. The time to start your new goal is now; believe that you can do it and go do it!

*The information in this article was compiled from a variety of sources and is intended to provide helpful tips only.