So, have you made any New Year's resolutions yet? 

Did you know that New Year's resolutions are said to have been around since ancient Babylonian times? That explains how long we have been attempting to keep our resolutions as humans.

Here are some creative ideas to help you organize them, implement them, and actually follow through on them.

How Do You Pick Your Resolutions?

If you are having difficulty brainstorming, think about what you need most by the end of this year. It could be a graduation degree, a better job, lots of vacations, mental or physical self-improvement, a loving partner, a bigger house, children, or even a bigger family. Whatever answer comes to mind, ask yourself how can you achieve it? If nothing comes to mind, think about the last time you felt jealous, angry, or dissatisfied. Why do you think that happened? What were you jealous of; what did you want to own? What made you angry; what could have made it better, or what can be done to avoid the trigger in the future? Why were you dissatisfied? What did you want? Are those still relevant to you? If yes, there you have it. If not, relax; don't panic. It's okay to not have any New Year's Resolutions. That simply means you are really enjoying your life and are happy with it the way it is. Take a deep breath, calm down, and live life as it is. Now that you know what you want, sit down and set goals as the first steps to achieving what you want. These goals are your New Year's Resolutions. For eg., if you want children, your goal would be to get married. Or if you want to graduate, you would have to study 6-8 hours a day.

Some Ways to Actually Keep Your New Year's Resolutions : - 

A lot of us make New Year's Resolutions every year. And a lot of us fail to see them through to the end. Are you one of those people? And do you regret it? Don't anymore. Use the following clever hacks: - 

1. Be Picky - Yes, be picky with your New Year's Resolutions like you would be with something you care about. Don't have a lot of resolutions that are not really that important to you. That clutters your mind and makes you fail to follow through on any of them. Pick only those that matter to you the most and those that you will be able to actually follow through with. Prioritize. Make a list and arrange them in order of priority. There you go. Much easier.

2. Have Solid Plans - I had a resolution to lose weight once upon a time. To be more specific, I wanted to lose 20 pounds by the end of the year. However, I had no plan for how to go about it. I kept thinking all year that I wanted to lose weight, but I never actually did anything about it. It remained a vague idea in my mind. So, let's talk about how I could have fixed that problem. Losing weight could translate into quite a few things, starting from turning vegetarian to avoiding fast food to dieting to daily exercise to never skimping on your morning yoga and walking routine. Set a specific plan for what you want to do and how you want to do it. For eg., 15 mins of brisk walking, or 30 mins of daily exercise or yoga, or no non-vegetarian food except on Sundays. When you have something specific in mind, it's easier to follow through.

3. Remind Yourself Why - When you forget why you made that resolution in the first place, you tend to forget to follow through. So make some physical reminders of the "why" behind your resolution and keep them in places you are likely to see them again and again, for eg., your personal diary, the door of the refrigerator, the place where you hang your keys, the back cover of your mobile phone (if you use the Muggle device), the inside of your wallet, etc. Spruce it up by adding a few motivational quotes underneath.

4. Reminders Everywhere - Remind yourself of your specific goals, such as "Exercise daily", by sticking up reminders everywhere you are likely to look at least once daily, such as at your work table or on your bedroom wall.

5. Break it Up and Reward Yourself in the Short-term - Mark a calendar every time you fulfill your specific daily goal. At the end of the month, count how many days you managed to do it. Reward yourself proportionately. That gives your brain a reward and keeps you motivated.

6. Get a Person Who Wants the Best for You to Help You - Ask a close friend or family member to monitor you throughout the process and take you back to the required path whenever you slip up.

7. Make it a Specific Habit - It takes three months to form a habit. You do it once reluctantly, twice after pushing yourself hard, and three times with acceptance, and thereafter it becomes a habit. Then, it becomes part of you, and finally, it is who you are.

8. Visualize - Visualize yourself starting. That way, it will start to seem easier soon.

9. You Have to Start to be Able to Finish - Don't procrastinate because it feels like a mammoth task. Start, and trust me, it gets easier after that.

10. Start Small - Don't expect yourself to successfully complete your goal on the very first day. Don't let the failure demotivate you either. Have lower expectations of yourself on the first day, then increase them bit by bit.

11. Be Patient - Anything that is worth the pain takes time. If the outcome is of any value, it's not going to happen in one day. You will have to trust the process, have faith in yourself, and keep going. One day, you will surely see the results in front of your eyes.

Finally, here are some innovative ways to list your resolutions to keep you motivated: -

1. Symbolic Signs - Hang pictorial representations of your resolutions. Hang a picture of that yoga pose you've set as your daily goal. Or hang a picture of yourself studying (even if you were only pretending to study when the picture was taken). Somewhere on the picture, write the time you need to do it each day for, if applicable.

2. This is my Future - Hang posters all around you showing a successful you, the you that you want to become by the end of this year. Failure is not a possibility if you don't think of it as one.

3. Make a beautiful-looking daily to-do list with your specific daily goals so that, at bedtime, you can check off the ones you managed to do.

- Hiya Debnath, Journalist, Editor-in-Chief, Compiler, Publisher, Hogwarts Monthly Magazine.