How to keep your New Year's Resolutions
This time of year we hear a lot about fresh starts, big plans, and making sweeping resolutions to improve how you live your life.
We are all in favor of big-picture thinking and working to improve our lives—after all, deVivre Concierge Services was founded on the principle of joie de vivre. Despite the best intentions, though, most of the time these types of resolutions fizzle in a few weeks. According to U.S. News and World Report, 80% of New Year's Resolutions fail by February. Yikes! And, more importantly: why?
Because while acknowledging the areas of your life that need attention is a great start, when you give yourself a giant to-do like "eat better" or "exercise more" with no plan for execution it's like...now what? Where do I even start? Oof. This is going to take some time. I’m too busy…Eh, whatever.
This year, make a plan (and get help where you need it).
HOW TO KEEP YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
1) “Eat Better”
Take a week and really pay attention to what you’re eating and how. Then, make a menu plan and stick to it—taking into account any “friction points” you noticed throughout the week. Always scarf a donut when you’re starving at the office at 3pm? Get prepared, you know it’s coming. If you’re the kind of person who can see this as an adventure, splurge on a beautiful new cookbook, schedule in some time at the greenmarket, and let yourself have some fun. If you need more structure, get all of your groceries (or pre-prepared meals and snacks if you’re not a cook) ready to go at the beginning of the week. If this sounds daunting, a deVivre Concierge can execute any (or all!) of these steps for you.
2) “Exercise More”
What does “more” mean? What does “exercise” mean!? Define it! And get super specific. Would doing yoga once a week cut it for you? Or investing in a pedometer to count those steps (and then setting small goals to increase your daily count)? Or do you really want to go all in and integrate a daily—um, weekly—gym routine? If so, be sure to find the “right” gym for you (which means: one you’ll actually go to). We know the ins and outs (and costs and benefits) of various gym memberships and can help navigate that for you if you need :) Even if it’s just helping you decide that you don’t actually need a gym membership if you can’t make it a priority to go.
3) “Save More/Spend Less”
No one likes talking about money. But you gotta do some lip service to what you’re actually working with if you’re going to make changes. First, do you keep a budget? We love YNAB for do-it-yourselfers, but we’ve also worked with clients to map out their existing budgets, create a “desired budget” that takes into account their needs, preferences, and existing issues (hello, debt) and then give them small, concrete, easily-executable steps to take to get themselves on the right track. Like with anything, the best way to deal with money is to make a plan and stick to it. Bonus: a deVivre Concierge Budget Consultation is completely judgment free. Schedule one now.
4) “Travel More”
Maybe you have the bandwidth for a big trip abroad, maybe you want to finally book that dreamy summer house before all of the good spots are taken, maybe it’s a jaunt upstate for a three day weekend, or maybe you just need to take the 7 train out to Flushing for hand-pulled noodles (it does feel a world away!). Whatever your wanderlust desires, you do the dreaming, and we’ll nail down the details.
5) “Spend more time with family/friends”
This is one we love. It’s so easy! (well, it’s easy if you call us, HA!) Think about the things that you have to do (work, eat, sleep), the things that need to get done but could be more effectively scheduled OR, better yet, delegated (laundry, groceries, cleaning, schlepping to Ikea etc. etc). Then, instead of saying “I don’t have time for X” consider making a mental shift to “X is not a priority for me”. See: “I don’t have time to spend with friends and family” vs. “Spending time with friends and family is not a priority for me”. Yikes. Powerful, huh? When you frame it that way it’s much easier to then shift your focus from: “Spending time with family and friends is not a priority for me because I want to pick up my dry cleaning” to “Picking up my dry cleaning is not a priority for me because I want to spend time with family and friends”. Try it! And let us pick up your dry cleaning.
New Years Resolutions are, in and of themselves, a good thing. Making them and breaking them? Not good. Let us help you bring your best self to the new year. Cheers to a very happy + productive 2019!