Setting Resolutions That Last a Lifetime

Written by: Amy Irving, MS, CPT, Pn1

Wellness Promotion Specialist - TotaLife Fitness Center at Allianz Life

Another new year doesn’t have to mean another list of lofty resolutions that leave you failing by February, feeling bad about yourself, and giving up far too soon. In fact, there are many strategies that can help you to set resolutions for yourself in a way that is realistic and sets you up for success!

This new year, let us remember that there is not some miraculous magic that will change everything just like that. Take away the pressure, take away the expectation of a complete lifestyle overhaul today, and recognize that building a new lifestyle takes patience, consistency, and commitment. It takes 21 days to make a habit, but it takes 90 days for it to become part of your lifestyle (1).

Patience is a virtue for a reason, my friends. January 1^st is a great day for changes to begin; however, we have to know that the results we seek will take time and consistency.

Break up your health and wellness goals throughout the year, creating a blueprint of health for all of 2026! For the first 2-3 months of the year, put your focus into the seemingly simpler things like drinking enough water daily, getting at least 8-10K steps a day, and reducing fast food/soda/alcohol consumption. Then, continue those successes daily before moving into the next phase where your focus moves entirely onto nutrition and preparing more meals at home. Then, the next phase is introducing and incorporating exercise that you enjoy and keep your body moving, and so on!

By breaking up all the goals and ambitions we have throughout the year, this allows us to better establish those healthy habits into our day-to-day routine rather than trying to accomplish everything on day 1 and quickly becoming overwhelmed and giving up. In addition to creating your overall blueprint, you can then go deeper by breaking down week-by-week what you will do to achieve those larger, quarterly goals. For example, if you start with water consumption as your first goal, you can start by purchasing a reusable water bottle to help you easily track how much water you consume. Then, for 21 days, your focus is on consuming the recommended amount of water each day (~124 oz for men, ~92 oz for women) (2). If regular water is tough for you to incorporate, you can try flavoring it, eating it with more fruits and veggies, alternating it between other beverages you enjoy during the day, and by always bringing a full water bottle with you when running errands (2). Once accomplished, you can then layer in the next habit while continuing to drink that water goal every day until you surpass the 90-day mark, and so on, building the foundation of your new lifestyle brick by brick.

Let’s be better in 2026 and set resolutions that are realistic to our starting point and that can be sustained, adapted, integrated, and continued beyond just this year, but rather for a lifetime!

References:

1.       How to Stick to Healthy Habits 

2.       Tips for drinking more water - Mayo Clinic Health System