'Small and manageable': One psychologist's tips to keeping your New Year's resolution

Whether it’s getting back to the gym, tackling finances, or simply getting more sleep, many Manitobans have taken on the time-honoured tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions.

But so often, goals set with the best of intentions when the calendar flips to Jan. 1 fall by the wayside by month’s end.

So how can we actually achieve our 2025 resolutions?

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
• Sign up now for daily CTV News Winnipeg newsletters

Clinical psychologist Rehman Abdulrehman said one key to success is setting realistic goals.

“For example, if I wanted to be an astronaut tomorrow or at the end of the month, it’s going to be unlikely, but if I set a realistic goal with a realistic timeframe and then outline the steps that could take me there, I might be an astronaut in a few years,” he said in an interview with CTV Morning Live Winnipeg on Thursday.

“Sometimes it’s not the goal, but the timeframe.”

Another key to resolution realization? Abdulrehman said it’s just as important to develop a sustainable habit to meet our resolutions.

Take the all-too-familiar goal of getting back to the gym. Abdulrehman said people often make resolutions that are far too lofty. After just a few days of long, exhausting gym sessions, people can burn out and stop going altogether.

The better approach - start modestly and build.

“Even to be able to go for a matter of 10 to 15 minutes. Keep it small and manageable, whatever is accomplishable and perhaps just slightly above your ability. That’s going to sustain a habit. Once that habit is in place, you can more successfully increase the intensity of that goal.”

Listing your goals can be helpful, Abdulrehman said, as long as they are prioritized. Trying to achieve too much all at once can have a bottleneck effect. He recommends setting short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals, and working at them slowly and consistently.

All that said, Abdulrehman said it is important to be kind to yourself if it doesn’t work perfectly immediately. You can always adjust.

“Maybe you’ve got to make it a little bit easier and maybe it’s too easy and you can increase the intensity.”

- With files from CTV’s Rachel Lagacé