Practical Resolutions: A Guide To Building Healthy Habits & Sticking to Your Goals This New Year

Written by Michelle Manis

Atoms are to the body as habits are to your daily actions. While our bodies are made up of atoms, our day-to-day lives are made up of habits. I like to think of habits as the fundamental units for who we show up as in the world–derived from how we occupy our time, what we identify as, and what goals we’ve set for ourselves. Let this atom-habit analogy be an aid as we explore the importance of how habits shape our behaviors, health, and overall goal achieving capacity. Anything is possible when you harness the power of actionable habits that take you one step closer to dream life each day. This one’s an exciting one so get ready to step into your fullest potential this new year!

If you have big dreams and ambitions like me, you may find your New Year's resolutions inner dialogue to look a little something like this: “Let’s write a book this year, AND learn how to play 3 new instruments, AND while we’re at it, let’s become fluent in 3 languages using solely Duolingo AND AND AND…” While these all may be great goals, they’re broad, very different from each other, and very overwhelming at first glance. These would be the types of New Year's resolutions that require a concrete and actionable plan to keep working consistently towards the goal. Many people tend to work on their resolution for the first week, not get the instant gratification of seeing major progress and then give up. Progress takes time, and if you’re able to keep working without seeing instant results and know that results will show in due time, you’re going to be so much closer to achieving your goals. 

Here’s 3 steps to how you can approach your resolutions and set yourself up for success this new year!  

1. Make It Achievable

Give yourself enough time to succeed. While it may be a great goal to want to be fluent in another language this year, make sure you break your goals into smaller ones to increase your chance of achieving. Instead of, “I’m going to be fluent in 3 languages this year,” reframe your goal to say “I’m going to expand my knowledge and vocabulary of Spanish, French, and Italian this year.” 

2. Make It Actionable: Habit Stacking Tool

Remember to make your goals specific and actionable. The more specific and actionable, the more chances you have to stick and work towards your goal. A great way to make your goals actionable is through habit stacking! Habit stacking is talked a lot about in the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. It is such an amazing tool that guides you through making a positive habit change in your life and has helped me personally when it comes to establishing my own healthy routine and breaking habits that didn't serve me. Clear explains that it’s far easier to keep a habit that you’ve already established than to start from scratch. Habit stacking in a nutshell allows you to embed your goal with a part of your routine (before, while, or after a part of a preexisting routine). Habit stacking can make sticking to your goals simpler by flowing between your old and new routine, and in return, designing the routine that will set you up for your desired result. If I were to habit stack to expand my vocabulary of 3 languages, it might look a little something like this: “When I finish dinner, I will take my vitamins; after I take my vitamins, I will learn 5 new vocab words in Spanish, French, and Italian; after I learn those vocab words, I will brush my teeth.” Stacking old habits with new ones truly makes a difference to help lock in those new healthy habits that will soon become a part of your identity for lasting change! 

3. Make It Your Identity 

If you believe it, you can achieve it and fake it till you make it–it may be a bit corny, but there is a lot of truth in the two. If you don’t believe you’re the type of person that has the capability to learn new languages, run a marathon, invent something new, be your own CEO, give up a bad habit, or free yourself from your past mistakes, you’ll have a very difficult time pushing through the “I can’t, what if I fail, I could never achieve this” push back mentality that often accompanies change. It’s only natural for our minds to question what we don’t know for certain, but I urge you to try to take uncertainty and turn it into your superpower. What if you can? What if it turns out better than expected? What if you succeed? What if you truly embody your desired self? What if you achieve all you’ve ever dreamed? If you can question the doubts and push towards positivity, you’ll be unstoppable!

Make 2024 be the year you set your sights high in achievable ways. May your 2024 be filled with positive change, leveling up, and making your inner child proud. Each and every day you’re one day closer to your dreams. I know you got this!

Be Well,

Michelle