Keeping New Year’s resolutions

To make resolutions, or have objectives, goals in life, allows you to step out of your routine, of your comfort zone, to live fully in the present moment and to fulfil yourself while becoming the person you really want to be and living the life you really want to live. Such resolutions can therefore help you to build a stronger mental, to have more self-confidence, to let go, to develop yourself as an individual, to fully reach your potential, to have a better self-esteem, to be more positive, happier, more focused… All that can help you to free yourself from negative thinking or depression for example. You have every reason to try this year! Furthermore, remember that having such goals will help you to rebuild yourself as an individual, it is the first step to change your life. But that’s also why it is that hard. To reach your goals, you need to have in mind an action plan, then, little by little, you need to focus, to motivate yourself to be able to give way to positive thinking, to self-trust, to motivation, and to overcome feelings of guilt, procrastination, depression, bad habits, temptations and then you’ll be able to focus on optimism, on your objective, on time management… This self-improvement is done on a long-term basis, but it has to start now! And you will notice that the first thing you need to work on is your state of mind. Your state of mind will allow you to act and then what you will do will motivate you even more, creating a virtuous circle. Of course, the advice you’ll find in this article and the assistance of Tokeeen cannot replace a medical advice or professional help, but in addition, they can make all the difference!

There is an infinity of resolutions, such as quitting smoking, losing weight, exercising more, having a healthier lifestyle, starting a new project, getting a degree, reading more… Most people indeed want to get fit and toned for the new year, so they want to workout more, to mind their eating habits, to reduce their anxiety, to drink less alcohol, to have a better diet… It takes a strong willpower and good strategies to remind your brain and your body of what you really want to achieve. But how can we keep those resolutions and finally become efficient?

• Be balanced and reasonable. It is better to keep two resolutions than to make a list of ten that you’ll never keep. By doing this, you may discourage yourself, be overwhelmed and never even start. If you didn’t manage to keep any last year, do not plan to keep ten this year. Nobody can change his life overnight, but it is possible, step by step. On the other side, for those who tend to keep their head below the parapet, you need to step outside your comfort zone from time to time and try to go a bit further. The way to personal improvement is a long but enriching way. Find a list of quotes that boost you. Here’s one for you: “Reach for the moon, even if you fall short, you’ll land among the stars” (Oscar Wilde). And know that there are no such things as unreachable goals.
• Detail your resolutions. A resolution like “lose 20 pounds” will be very hard to keep. For each big resolution, write down under-resolutions, like a battle plan. For example: “stop junk food, eat more veggies, drink 1,5L of water per day, join a fitness centre, run once week…” You cannot just say what you want, you also need to say how you’re going to do it. A good methodical management makes any objective reachable.
• Write down your resolutions. Writing down helps you to remember. It multiplies by 10 your chances of success. It is also a good thing to see them often, so they start to be part of your routine. Why not put them up in your kitchen or workspace? Absorb them!
• Set under-objectives with deadlines. One year, it’s long, and you’ll likely lose sight of your goals. Create real (and realistic) milestones monthly. By doing this, on a daily basis, every month, you will move on, slowly but surely toward your goal, while getting used to the idea. For example: “in one month, I will have quit smoking”, “in one month, I will have lost 4 pounds” …
• Be proud of yourself and of your success. Reward yourself when you succeed, even with the smallest steps. You will create a virtuous circle in your subconscious and will avoid feelings of frustration.
• Don’t feel guilty when you fail or have a relapse. You should rather see where all your efforts already took you and analyse how not to do the same mistakes again. There are no failures, only experience!
• Commit yourself morally with your circle. When you speak about your goals, they become real in your own eyes. And you don’t want to disappoint your family or friends and they will be in a good position to support you.
• To guide you in the choice of your resolutions, ask yourself: “What does the life of my dreams look like?” “Whom do I admire?” “What sort of individual would I want to be or need to become?”
• Use Tokeeen as a complement to help you out, boost you, and assist you daily. Tokeeen will be your personal coach and will handle the management of your objectives. Furthermore, Tokeeen is free of charge and advertisement-free!

Tokeeen enables you to follow your objectives daily. You can create to-do lists, change the priority, take notes, create online objectives and earn points each time you succeed at something! Tokeeen sends you reminders and allows you to stay focused on your goals. To show you how Tokeeen works, let’s take an example:

Quit smoking with Tokeeen:

If you want to quit smoking completely, you need to choose intermediary objectives. For example, you can create the objective:

• Spend a day without cigarettes 🚭

If you wish to diminish your consumption, you can add intermediary progression objectives:

• Smoke less than 15 cigarettes
• Smoke less than 10 cigarettes
• Smoke less than 5 cigarettes

You can then add habits and objectives that are in line with your main objective, habits or actions that will reduce your cravings:

• Refuse an offered cigarette 🚭
• Exercise ⚽
• Go for a walk 🚶‍♀️
• Drink a glass of water 🚰
• Avoid the cigarette break with colleagues ⏸
• Avoid the after-work with colleagues 🍻
• Call a friend ☎
• Add everything that can help you! 💪

As we already saw it, don’t feel guilty! It is absolutely normal to have ups and downs, it is hard. But look at all the things you already accomplished. The habit schedule on Tokeeen allows you to see all the things you already managed to accomplish and all the days you stood fast. Tomorrow is another day!

We recommend you to stack all the odds on your side and to seek adapted professional help, in particular from a Tobacco Control Expert, someone specialized in the study of nicotine addiction.

With Tokeeen, you have at your disposal a personal assistant allowing you to have daily follow-up and therefore to reach your goals. Daily reminders and weekly custom-made assessments will be sent to you on Monday mornings via email. It’s up to you now. Create your battle plan, invent your objectives and set everything up with Tokeeen. We wish you a lot of success!