How to Stick to New Year’s Resolutions — Involve a Charity

Each year, you diligently map out your goals for the upcoming year, New Year’s resolutions aimed at bettering yourself, personal development, growth, change, and/or finally just kicking that bad habit you’ve struggled with. And each year, you struggle to keep the consistency and hit your goals.

The Sacramento Children’s Home understands.

New Year’s resolutions are hard to keep! If they weren’t challenging, they’d be something you would have already accomplished in your sleep, ages ago! But you keep at it because you want to make a change and that’s awesome. This year, we’re here to help you stick to your resolutions by getting others involved and gamefying the process.

Here’s how to do it:

A Fine for a Miss

Let’s say your New Year’s Resolution is to go to the gym four days a week. For every week you go to the gym three times or less, it’s a $5 fine.

Is you resolution to floss more? It’s $1 every time you forget.

Is your goal to run every single day? It’s $1 every time you miss a day.

Want to eat eight servings of fruits and veggies a day? In a 30-day month, that’s 240 servings, so total your servings up and donate $2 for every one serving under goal.

Tally the misses up at the end of the month and visit www.kidshome.org/donate to pay your “fines.”

An Added Luxury Tax to Break a Habit

Let’s say you want to quit smoking. Add a self-imposed luxury tax of $1 for every cigarette.

Commit $2 for every soda or coffee drank to really make sure it’s worth it.

You’ve heard of a swear jar, but what does everyone do with the money collected?

At the end of each month, simply mail a check in to 2750 Sutterville Road, Sacramento, CA 95820.

Donate the Overage of an Allotted Amount

In 2020, you want to use your phone less. But not using it at all is impossible. Give yourself a determined amount of time, like “no more than 3 hours a day” for example. Donate $5 for every hour of overage you spent on your phone.

Or maybe you have a wicked sweet tooth. You know you won’t be able to cut sugar completely and you simply want to cut back. Allow yourself a defined amount of grams of sugar per week, and for every 10 grams over, it’s $1 to SCH.

At the end of every week, month or quarter, donate the overage by texting GIVETOSCH to 44321.

Find a “Sponsor” to Increase the Encouragement

Remember when you were little and ran in the jog-a-thon at school? Ask your friends and family to help you achieve your goal of running 100 miles in a month by committing to $1 per mile, or $25 if you meet the goal.

Vice versa, if you’re trying to quit something, ask for help. “I’m trying to cut out ___ but I need your help. Will anyone commit to a $1 donation to SCH for every day (or $20 for every month) I go without?” If you can forego the habit for 100 days, that’s 100 days of healthy habits for you, a $100 donation for the Sacramento Children’s Home, and an amazingly supportive friend throughout. Who would be upset with making a donation because their friend succeeded?

Or, Make Your Resolution to Simply Get Involved

Want to just be more involved with a local nonprofit like the Sacramento Children’s Home? If you want to help keep children safe and families strong, check out 25 different ways you can support SCH this new year! From collecting items to attending an event, there’s something for everyone!