I’m typically a big New Year’s Resolution guy who inevitably loses track of them and it ends up always making me feel shitty, so this year I went into 2015 intending on not having any resolutions and just trying to embrace the new year positively.

…that was until I got serious with myself and realized there was no chance I wasn’t going to have any resolutions. I’ve realized a few things in my days of resolution failure and want to share my thoughts with you.  Let me explain more in detail. (This may seem a little intense, but I promise it’ll be worth it.)

1) Don’t Go Overboard
Sure, we’d all love to perfect every aspect of our lives (or maybe that’s just me, the idiotic perfectionist). One big mistake I’ve made in the past is setting far too many goals. I’d recommend capping yourself at three or four. Too many becomes daunting and you lose interest. They should vary in difficulty as I’ll explain next…

2) Levels of Resolution Difficulty
When devising how you want to improve or what you want to improve upon through your resolutions, don’t be afraid to set one that’s easy, something that you know you’ll be able to accomplish. This way, when you get it done you’ll feel good about yourself and the tougher one or two others will seem more doable. I’d recommend the easy one being finished by the first couple weeks of starting, the sooner accomplished, the sooner you can move on while still feeling good about yourself. Set a larger goal or goals that will take more time and dedication.

My small resolution was to begin the redevelopment of this blog (a process which has begun! updates as available).
My long-term resolution is to DRASTICALLY cut my sugar intake. I have a sweet tooth like nobodies business and it’s time to start getting serious about taking care of myself which means WAY less sugar.

3) Be Realistic
If you’re biggest resolution is to start working out every single day but you haven’t been to the gym in seven years, there’s a good chance you’re going to fail. By setting goals that are realistic for your lifestyle, you’re going to set yourself on the path to long-term success, which is much more rewarding than immediate gratification (I’ve had to learn this the hard way as I’m the KING of immediate gratification).

My realistic goal is to limit myself to eating out only two meals per week. Not only does it save tons of money (for shopping) but it offers you so much more control as to what you’re putting into your body.

4) CHEAT!
All of the healthiest people I know tell me that one of the most important parts of maintaining a long-term healthy lifestyle is to cheat. It applies to more than just health as well. If your resolution is to be better about being on your phone (hopefully all of us), allow yourself that one day to be on your phone all day or do everything you love to do on it. Cheating = one skip, no more. When you start to let it slip into multiple days and then multiple weeks, you’ve failed and it’s going to be extremely difficult to recover!

My cheating will be during my two meals out. Burgers! Wings! Cookies! Cake! Weeeeeee!

5) Talk About Your Resolutions
This is a big one for me. I like to be out and open about my resolutions (hopefully not to an annoying degree) so that people are aware of what I’m trying to accomplish. I find that this helps me stay motivated. It also opens the door for people helping you out in ways you never knew they could, you’d be surprised!

Resolutions can be anything that you think you could and should be better about. They also don’t have to start on January 1st, they can begin any time.

Join me in making 2015 the year we realize that resolutions aren’t just BS we talk about at New Years parties!

I’d love to hear about some of your resolutions this year!

Bahhh! (pronounced like a southern “bye”, it’s my new thing)

PYS

Photo courtesy of Ryan Orange Photography

About the author

I'm Parker York Smith, a curious dude still very much figuring everything out. I hail from the Midwest but have been dwelling in Los Angeles for the last few years being a pretty stereotypical west coast transplant. I'm a fashion geek, I love to walk (a LOT) and I do my best to find the bright side. I'm extremely excited about this blog and hope that (with some hard work and luck) it turns into what I believe it can. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please get in touch with me via my social networks (which can be found in the sidebar) or email me at parker@thelooksmith.com.

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