6 Fool-Proof Tips to a Better and Marvelous You This New Year

And just like that, it's a brand new year! Have you broken your new year’s resolutions yet?

If you’ve given up your quest to a slimmer physique, a rigid 10-step beauty routine, or if you’ve given up eating healthier this year, don’t fret. You have till December to bounce back and work your way to achieving your goals, whatever those may be.

In this new normal, we should all take an extra time for self-improvement now that most of us are homebound. It's just finding a few moments of "me-time" in this post-Covid era. 

You have tomorrow and the day after that to work on your goals. You have an unlimited chance to have a fresh start. So don’t hate yourself if you’ve overindulged or if you were lazy today.  

Now, just because there will always be another day doesn’t mean you can procrastinate all you want. We just mean, don’t be too hard on yourself to the point that you have no will to start the process. 

Take the first step in reaching your goal and if the previous year was a nightmare for you, make this year your most fabulous and marvelous year yet!

According to studies, you’re 10 times more likely to successfully change a behavior if you make a new year’s resolution. So, how can you make sure you can stick to your goals? Let us help you achieve your new year’s resolutions by doing the following:

A lot of people fail or completely give up on their goals because they think they missed the timing or can’t find the right time to start.

Don’t let the world fool you or dissuade you. Just because some people are working on their resolutions on day 1 doesn’t mean you can’t work on yours on day 5 or 10 or in June.

Life will always happen and there will always be something that’s happening. And that’s okay. Work on your goals when you are ready. No one will be able to tell you when you are ready but you.

Goal-setting is not impossible as long as you keep it SMART. Specific. Measurable. Attainable. Realistic. and Time-bounded.

Let’s say you want to lose weight. It seems daunting if you just say you want to lose weight. But if you make it a SMART goal, it would seem more doable.

Lose 5 pounds in a month.

That’s a specific goal and you have a measurable goal to lose 5 pounds. It is also attainable because, well, 5 pounds isn’t that impossible compared to saying 25 pounds!

It is a realistic goal because it is not too much. You would probably think of portioning your meals or doing more exercise, or skipping your favorite frappuccino so you can cut your calorie intake.

Plus, you have a month to work on your goal to lose 5 pounds! So even if you were lazy today, you can still do more exercises the following day. Or you can do intermittent fasting and cut your carb intake. As long as you keep your goal to lose 5 pounds in a month, you’d have the whole month to reach it.

And it’s not just all about weight. Whatever your goal is, you should give yourself a chance to achieve it by making it SMART.

Setting your SMART goal is not the end process. That’s just step number 1. Now, to help you achieve your goal, you will have to make plans on how you can work on it.

For example, if you want to look ageless in your 40’s or 50’s, you have to work on it when you are younger.

Let’s say you are in your 20’s or early 30’s. Use a mild facial wash, a good toner, a moisturizer that’s fit for your skin type, and do not skip SPF! Yes. It may be an overused and cliche advice, but SPF is the most important key in a skincare routine.

Even on cloudy days or if you just stay indoors, you still need to apply SPF to prevent UV rays from aging your skin.

Another way to look ageless in your middle to late adulthood is banking on good eye creams. Keep the eye area well-hydrated to prevent developing wrinkles. And lastly, do not neglect your neck!

Now, if you had a poor skincare routine when you were younger, you wouldn’t expect that you’d have magnificent looking skin in your 40’s or 50’s. Not unless you have immaculate genes, then we envy you. Or, this may be the time to consider going under the knife.

But, if you don’t want to do anything drastic, investing in a good-quality at-home beauty device may be something that you should look into.

Now, this doesn’t just apply to a solid skincare routine. Whatever goal you have in mind, you should think of the necessary steps you will take to achieve it. Incorporate these steps into your daily routine or put it in your calendar so you won’t forget it!

Whatever goal you have in mind, make it a part of your lifestyle. Like we mentioned, it helps to plan how you can achieve your goal so you can take small steps to reach it.

If you want to be healthy, make a conscious decision to live a healthy life. For example, when eating, choose what you put in your body. Ask yourself, "will this nourish my body or is it potentially toxic for me?"

A lot of people may have food allergies or sensitivities that they neglect, not knowing that it is causing a reaction in their body. Some experience bloating, hyperacidity, developing a rash or some sort of inflammation.

They may have trouble losing weight or they may develop other diseases when the real culprit is the food that they are eating. Bad food choices can lead to problematic skin too!

READ: Blemish Control: 6 Ways to Kick Acne for Good

If you think you have problems with food or diet, it is best to consult a nutritionist or your doctor so you can work together in figuring out what’s causing you to get ill. Once you do that, you will be given a regimen to correct your diet.

Knowing more about your condition will make embracing the lifestyle change easier (or at least, we hope so).

Easier said than done, we know. But if you want to achieve your goals, you have to remind yourself why you do what you do. Be it in your life, job, family, or school, find what motivates you to wake up in the morning and go on with your daily activities.

Say if your goal is to lose weight, motivation may be a specific size of a dress you want to fit in. Or maybe, getting a normal score on your blood chemistry. Or probably you just want to breathe easier.

For skin, maybe you want to have fewer breakouts or you want to prevent wrinkles from forming. Or you just want to feel good in your skin without having to hide behind tons of makeup (and filters!)

Or maybe, you are eyeing that promotion! So yes, be a rockstar in your industry and do the work to have your boss and coworkers notice that you are great in what you do.

We are humans. We do slip-up sometimes. We might indulge in a tub of ice cream after losing 3 pounds and gain 5 pounds.

Or after having a solid skincare routine, there’s this one night you got so tired you forgot to remove your makeup. And you woke up to a new pimple.

Or after eating a low-carbohydrate keto diet, you just can’t help but feast on fries and pizza and ice cream.

That is fine. If you ever stumble and fall, get back up. It’s okay if you slip up. We have the rest of our lives to make up for it.

Don't beat yourself up because you had a one-off. Let it go, start a new day, and get back on track.

If you find that your goals are too unrealistic, you can tweak it. Make it SMART. Then do the work to get to your goal. Don’t hang the white flag just yet. Envision yourself actually achieving your goals and keep your eyes in the prize. You can do it!