50 ways to make your New Year’s resolutions stick in 2020

From tracking your progress biometrically to customizing workouts to helping you become more organised, technology can be a great tool for the modern resolution-keeper.

No matter what your goal is, there’s an app for that: online budgeting tools can help you be more frugal; resume building programs can help you get a better job; and recipe websites and apps can help you make healthier meals.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), minor missteps are normal because perfection is unattainable, so you shouldn’t let them derail you completely.

“Don’t bash yourself if you slip up,” Dr. Lipman says.

“Be patient with yourself.”

Think of how you’d respond to a friend, and treat yourself the same way.

Besides forgiving yourself, it’s equally important to get back up and try again.

“Tomorrow is a new day, so just hop back on your plan,” Dr. Lipman says.

Success in achieving your resolution is about building resilience so you can continue no matter what happens.

Research has shown that the more resilient you are, the less distress you experience after failure, so you’ll be more likely to move on.

Success in your resolutions will depend on the belief that you can do it, which psychologists refer to as self-efficacy.

Although building confidence can be a resolution itself, it’s also necessary for any other goals you want to achieve.

Start by editing your internal dialogue.

“Stop allowing yourself to subconsciously undermine your confidence,” says weight-loss and life coach Charles D’Angelo.

“When you find yourself saying things like, ‘You’re not going to be able to do that’ or any other negative comments, edit them out.”

Changing bad habits or establishing new and better ones requires a shift in how your brain actually works.

A 2016 study from the University of California San Diego showed that the brain’s circuits for habitual and goal-directed action compete for control.

You must understand how habits work to rewire your brain and your patterns,” Dr. Lipman says.

“Acknowledging that change is needed is key.”

By being aware of your thought patterns, you can override your habitual thinking with new, goal-oriented directives.

Being mindful is a way to think purposefully about your habitual actions and has been shown in studies to alter mental processes.

“Your thinking is highly programmable and can be altered,” says Sukey Novogratz, co-author of the meditation guidebook Just Sit.

“Mindfulness will make you more focused and present for the job at hand.”

How can this self-awareness help you achieve your goals? “It forces us to take a moment and to see what we are actually thinking,” she says.

In a moment when you’re grabbing a doughnut, for instance, you may realise that you’re actually bored, not hungry.

Then, you’ll put down the caloric treat and call a friend instead.

The practice of gratitude can help you change your thinking in order to achieve your goals.

Immediately upon awakening, think about five goodies you are thankful for, says doctor William Sears, author of The Dr. Sears T5 Wellness Plan.

“Beginning your day with these happy thoughts sends messages throughout the emotional centers of your brain, ‘Hey brain, this is how I expect you to behave today,’” he says.

Dr. Sears also says finding a “gratitude mantra” can help you focus on your resolution and avoid the distractions that can lead you back into old habits.

“A mantra is your personal peace recipe, a phrase that protects your mind from disturbing clutter,” he says.

A technique he likes is flotation therapy.

“While walking, enjoy the floaty feelings while synchronising with your gratitude mantra.”

Like tapping to a beat, matching your mantra to your movement helps ingrain it into your brain.

“Meditation is a daily practice that builds discipline and resilience,” says Elizabeth Novogratz, the other co-author of Just Sit.

“The more committed and consistent that you are with your practice, the more you’ll see discipline seeping into other areas of your life.”

This mental practice can take you out of your head and away from negative thinking, she says, to make you more zoned into your goal.

Another mental trick to keep you focused on your resolution is to visualise your success.

Studies have shown imagining yourself achieving your goal creates new neurological pathways that help you actually do it.

“Visualisation makes goals specific, and energy will flow to what you focus on,” Sukey Novogratz says.

“Visualisation makes us stop so that we can take back our thoughts and make them clear, put them in a positive light, and align them with what we want.”