New year, new post, who this? I took the last bit of 2017 off from The Blog to close out some projects and reflect on the upcoming new year. Whether you believe in New Year’s Resolutions, or prefer to be more of a realist and just set goals for the year ahead it’s important to set yourself up to succeed in following through. I prefer the latter myself and stick to setting yearly goals.

Last year I set 3 New Year’s Resolutions: improving my health, becoming more minimalist and exploring more of my city, and I surprisingly followed through on them for the most part. My biggest achievement would have to be my decision to take an alkaline approach to my eating habits in July. This basically means I’m “plant-based” or follow a vegan diet, but I do on occasion have goat cheese and treat myself sushi and other seafoods. The result was a huge improvement on my Fibromyalgia symptoms which I have officially been able to manage (for the most part) naturally.

My goals for this year? Focusing on the next part of my health journey and getting back into a strict exercise routine is top of the list. I’m also looking to work more on my visual content, and writing both with The Blog and other publications. We’re also hoping to finalize finding and purchasing our first home this year, which we started last May *eye roll*.

These goals although fairly realistic can only be realized with hard work, dedication and a good plan. Looking to set yourself up on the right track to achieving what you want in the new year? Here are my top 5 tips to keeping your 2018 resolutions or goals!

“I want to be a billionaire by the end of the year” is realistically a pretty far stretch for most, unless of course you secretly have the next revolution in technology or the cure to life itself. Don’t cheat yourself to achieving big things and stick to setting resolutions or goals that are realistic to your situation and current path.

Leaving your destiny in the hands of someone else is never a good idea. Avoid resolutions that involve action by others especially someone who isn’t always the most reliable person. If you rely on yourself you’re never disappointed.

If you’re looking to set a serious goal rather than a simple resolution, your best course of action is to make a plan. I personally like to divide a yearly goal into tasks that I break down quarterly. It takes an idea that might seem too big to accomplish and turns it into something more actionable.

Another important part of realizing any resolution or goal is to hold yourself accountable, be disciplined. Setting due dates to check in on progress or even reaching out to family or friend for support can really make a difference in your success rate.

Positive reinforcement is a tool that at the end of the day, works for us all. You don’t need to stop and celebrate every small milestone but make sure throughout your progress you reward yourself for your hard work. Buy yourself that bag, have that piece of cake or go on that trip; whatever your form of a reward is, you deserve it!