Four days into 2024, how is it going for you? Did you make New Year’s Resolutions? If so, have you kept them? Whatever your plan for the changes you want to make this year, daily focus is required. When we think of changes we want to make, daily changes are doable. If we try to focus on even a month of those changes, they can seem overwhelming. I recommend we start slowly, even set the bar low, and rejoice over our success.

Of course, we want to make changes that will last more than a day. Our goals need to be for longer than a day. I recommend that we set yearly goals, maybe even five-year goals, and then determine what changes we need to make on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to achieve those goals. But if we take it one day at a time, we are more likely to be successful.

One of your goals/New Year’s resolutions may be to lose weight. Be specific. How many pounds do you want to lose, in what period of time? Be clear about those specifics. Once you have determined the specifics, then decide what daily changes need to be made for you to accomplish your weight loss goal.

Next, decide what activities are important for you to be successful and lose the weight you want to lose. There are many at your disposal. The most important is to consume fewer calories and (probably) increase your physical activity. Then monitor your progress daily. This may include weighing daily, or not. That is a personal choice. It helps me to weigh daily, and that has been my pattern for many years. Except when I am traveling. While I sometimes travel with my scale, and I did have it with me the week we were in GA for Christmas, I left it in the car most of the time. I really did not know if I had maintained my weight, gained, or lost. I thought I had probably gained a couple of pounds and was surprised when I returned home and weighed and had actually lost a couple of pounds. That was a pleasant surprise.

The most common New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight, to stop drinking alcohol, and to reduce debt. My focus in 2024 is to reduce debt. This will be harder for me than losing weight and becoming alcohol-free. I met my weight loss goal and became alcohol-free in 2019. I stopped drinking alcohol on May 7, 2019, and rejoined Weight Watchers, and got serious about my weight loss journey on  May 16, 2019. In 2024, I will celebrate the fifth anniversary of making both changes.

It is easier for me to remain alcohol-free and even to stay within my weight goal than it will be to reduce my debt. I am, however, committed to this goal. I will keep you posted on my progress.

How about you? What will it take for you to feel successful in keeping your 2024 New Year’s resolutions? While most people refer to the changes they decide to make at the beginning of a year as New Year’s resolutions, I prefer to discuss New Year’s resolutions as commitments to ourselves. When we make a commitment to ourselves, it seems to carry more weight than a resolution.

Whatever you call them, New Year’s resolutions or commitments, let’s think of them as promises to ourselves. I wish you great success in keeping your promises to yourself. I would love to hear from you about your progress and help you in any way that I can. Check in with me and let me know how it is going.

You can do it! Daily focus is the key.