There are 10 seconds left in the year. As the clock ticks down, where are you and who the heck are you kissing? Most importantly, in the next 10 seconds, are you ready to become the person that your New Year’s Resolutions want you to be?!

As they say, “New Year, New Me.” That sounds like a lot of pressure for what’s supposed to be a fun holiday tradition, yeah?

Resolutions are meant to whip you into shape by pushing you to become the best person possible, yet, 92% of people who make New Year’s resolutions fail at following through with them.

What Exactly Are New Year’s Resolutions?

To figure out why we as humans see New Year’s resolutions as an epic fail each year, we first need to get to the bottom of what a New Year’s resolution is at its core.

In essence, when you make a New Year’s resolution, you are making a promise to yourself. Living with yourself 365 days a year, you know your flaws, weaknesses and vices better than anybody else in this world. Therefore, a New Year’s resolution is an admittance to the person in the mirror that these are the qualities you would like to change about yourself.

Case in point, this is why most gyms see a 40% increase in memberships between the months of December and January. People want to be healthier and in better shape. However, further research in the aforementioned piece has found that only half of the people who have a gym membership actually go.

Coming into the New Year with good intentions is clearly established by purchasing the membership. Endorphins go wild during this transaction. You feel like you are making strides toward your #lifegoals.

However, the commitment is much more than just making a purchase. You actually have to go to the gym AFTER that fateful day that you decided to join. Secondly, you actually have to work out to get the results that you really desire.

Maybe you can skate by on a technicality if one of your New Year’s resolutions was to join a gym. Check. However, the question is — why did you want to join the gym? It wasn’t just to get a neat keyring doo-dad thing. As elitist as that may feel, you most likely joined the gym to lose weight, tone your body and/or get healthier.

How to Actually Win at New Year’s Resolutions

Now that you know exactly why you made the New Year’s resolutions that you did, you can begin to figure out how to win at them.

Here are a few tips to become part of the 8% who actually follow through with their New Year’s resolutions:

1. Tell Others

As we mentioned above, a lot of people will join a gym, but most never show up on day two to actually put in the work. That’s because it’s just between you and … you. It’s a lot like how the minds of addicts work. You make excuses for why you can’t go, but the reality is you don’t want to change.

It’s a lot harder to hold yourself accountable for your New Year’s resolutions when you are playing your own judge and jury. If you want to facilitate change, you need the support of those who care about you.

Have a friend or family member become your gym buddy. Use social media to check yourself in at the gym. Proclaim to anyone that will listen what your New Year’s resolutions are. Perhaps your journey will inspire somebody else to become their better selves as well.

2. Make Mini-Resolutions

Just because the New Year’s Eve ball drops, it isn’t like a Fairy Godmother is going to sprinkle you with pixie dust and “poof!,” all of your New Year’s resolutions are realized!

Think back to your elementary school days. When you sat down to write a paper, the first thing your teachers made you do was draft an outline. That served as the skeleton for your argument.

Make mini-resolutions that help you work toward a bigger goal. You can’t achieve anything in life without taking steps to make it happen. If your goal is to buy a house, you need to first search for houses, then drive to them to look inside, then meet with a bank about a loan, then negotiate with a realtor, and so on.

Setting benchmarks will keep you on track and will also make your progress more visible and easier to appreciate.

3. Get to Day 22

Studies have found that it takes 21 days to create a habit. So, if you are making benchmarks for reaching your New Year’s resolutions, make Day 22 a goal. Once you have trained your mind and body to welcome this change into its routine, it will be easier to continue.

4. Find Alternative Routes

Part of the reason why we have such problems following through with our New Year’s resolutions is that we don’t even know where to begin. At the root of many of our inadequacies are things like stress, lack of sleep, wandering minds, or poor health.

Try to get to the bottom of some of your everyday struggles. Once you get them in check, you will have less trouble tackling your New Year’s resolutions.

For everyday hurdles, there are pills over-the-counter and in pharmacies that may help. However, these man-made chemicals can do more harm than good. Natural remedies that use ingredients derived from the Earth may be able to help combat common issues without horrible side effects, such as addiction. Some of these include:

• Anxiety Relief: Tranquilene

• Insomnia Relief: Sleep-Fast

• Anti-Inflammatory Relief: Turmeric Curcumin

5. Rethink the Timing

The New Year may seem like a clean slate because the calendar ahead is blank. However, the truth of the matter is the time for this change that you want to make may not be right. You may not be ready for the big step you are about to take.

For instance, some put the pressure on themselves to get married in the next year. This is just setting yourself up for disappointment, heartbreak, and a lot of lost money. You are putting a time crunch on yourself, your partner and your bank account to meet a goal that might make you unhappy. Think these goals out.

If you have a New Year’s resolution that seems great on January 1st, but come June 1st it feels ridiculous or impossible. There’s no shame in dropping out of something that isn’t good for you. That doesn’t mean to quit the New Year’s resolutions about the gym or eating healthier. This means to stop trying to buy the house outside of your price range and the car that you don’t need.

New Take On New Year’s Resolutions, New You

Ninety-two percent of people may epically fail at New Year’s resolutions. However, why be like everyone else? Strive to become the 8%. We shouldn’t just accept failure as inevitable. If that were case, then women would never be allowed to vote, water fountains would still be segregated, and not everybody would have the right to marry.

Following the steps above can help you become the best you possible. Once you realize the power inside of you, the sky’s the limit.

Have you ever experience a New Year’s resolution epic fail? Did you ever crush a New Year’s resolution?

Tell us about your New Year’s resolutions wins and fails below!