Welcome back from your holiday break. We hope you had a safe and happy holiday! Now it’s time to start off fresh, do away with bad habits and buckle down for a new semester. Well, we all know that’s easier said than done so for our first blog post of 2012 we thought we’d offer some advice to help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions.

Our first tip is to make your New Year’s resolutions S.M.A.R.T. We know we’ve talked about making your goals S.M.A.R.T. 100 times over but trust us, it works! It’s great to think big and make a goal like, “Upload video of myself singing on YouTube and become the next Justin Beiber” but for most of us, it doesn’t quite work like that. When your goals are S.M.A.R.T. you’re way more likely to be committed to achieving them and having an action plan of S.M.A.R.T. goals is a great way to start off a new year.

Specific  Do well in Math – Get 80% in Math

Manageable Get Healthy – Exercise 30 minutes a day

Attainable  Bank $50,000 a month – Bank 10% of what I earn this year

Relevant Become a rock star – Learn to play the guitar

Time-bound Finish my Halloween costume – Finish my Halloween costume by October 15^th

Write them down. Great, you’ve come up with lots of amazing resolutions, but make sure to physically write them down/type them out or chances are they will not be top-of-mind and eventually be forgotten. Make a list and keep it somewhere visible. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is something you want to do on a regular basis then write it on a calendar or schedule it into your smart phone and set a reminder so you’re reminded to set aside the time. myBlueprint’s Goal Setting feature is also a great way to record and be reminded of your resolutions (come on, we had to mention it!)

Include small resolutions. We tend to make big, bold statements when making resolutions that take lots of time and effort to achieve so we tend to put them off. Including small, easily attainable goals like, “be nicer to my little brother” or “clean my room twice a week” will help you get the ball rolling. Once you begin achieving resolutions and crossing them off your list, you’ll feel proud of yourself and be empowered towards conquering your entire list.

Start Early. Get a head start towards achieving your resolutions, even if you start with just one. This is especially important with those big, bold resolutions because they can seem intimidating when simply down on paper. Determine where to start and make a list of the steps you need to take. This will make your intimidating resolutions seem more manageable and attainable and increase your chances of achieving your resolutions.

Reason with yourself. To resolve to do something means to come to determination.  Each individual resolution ended up on your list because it meant something to you – what better reason is there than that to motivate you?

Finally – and most importantly – be selfish. Make sure, first and foremost, that you are the driving force behind your resolutions and achieving them will make YOU feel accomplished and happy.

Our first two tips are a refresher from our last years New Years post about ways to stay organized. They’re so essential in helping you stay on track as well as staying organized we just had to repeat them for this year’s post. For some awesome tips on staying organized check out last years New Year’s blog post: http://www.myblueprint.ca/5-ways-to-stay-organized/

Share with us! Post one of your S.M.A.R.T. New Year’s resolutions below and how you plan to achieve it in the comments section below.

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