Six Apps That’ll Help You Stick To Your New Year’s Resolutions

Tech Lists

Another year, another set of New Year’s resolutions. It’s by way of this tradition that we as humans try to better ourselves, and as we all know—keeping up our promises throughout a full year is incredibly difficult.

That’s where apps come in. With something constantly reminding you that you have a resolution, much less teaching you how to keep it, it’s a bit easier to keep yourself in check today than it was fifty years ago. Here are six apps that we found that will help keep you in check this year as you reach those goals. Because you’re totally going to do them, right?

1. The Walk (iOS, Android)

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One of the easiest apps to acclimate to in terms of fitness is The Walk. It’s literally something anyone can do, even if you’re only keen on a minimal amount of output. And you know what? Something is better than nothing, so booting up an interactive tale to motivate you to go out and get healthier is a great thing.

The Walk is a very “gamey” app, so you’ll have fun doing it, and work towards a greater goal. Its story is pretty engaging, so you may even find yourself staying active just to finish it!

2. MyFitnessPal (iOS, Android)

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Losing weight is a very common New Year’s resolution. But there’s a lot of facets that go into that decision—not just exercise. A large part of weight loss is keeping track of what you eat, which MyFitnessPal can help with.

Essentially, MyFitness Pal allows you to monitor both your exercise and eating habits, as well as devise a healthy and long term plan for your body. By inputing some simple information about yourself (gender, level of activity, age), you’ll be able to set a goal, which you’ll work towards with the two aforementioned activities.

With data like a calorie counter, as well as breakdowns of everything you’re eating and how much you’re exercising, MyFitness Pal makes it easy to hold yourself accountable throughout the year.

3. Duolingo (iOS, Android)

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Bettering yourself doesn’t always have to be physically related, as it’s always good to try to train your brain as well. Duolingo helps facilitate that education, specifically in terms of learning a new language. Basically, all you do is create an account, and choose between English, Italian, Portuguese, German, French, and Spanish.

Once you’ve done that, you’re on your way to learning bite sized language lessons by way of cloud support, so you can change up your device from a phone or tablet to a PC if you’re at work. This leaves you with no excuse to not learn something new for a few minutes each day. With tons of positive reinforcement like experience points and achievements, Duolingo will help motivate you throughout the year to finally learn that second language you’ve been talking about for so long.

4. MyQuit Coach (iOS)

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Besides weight loss, giving up smoking is another common 2014 resolution. Everyone works differently—whether it’s by doing it with someone else, getting medical assistance, or what have you. Regardless of your strategy, MyQuit Coach can help.

You’ll basically set a goal, set your level of smoking, and gradually ease into a smoke-free life. Whether that’s quitting instantly or even months down the road is completely up to you, but the app is designed to eventually ease your nicotine intake.

What’s neat is that the app will not only show you hard data, but it’ll also motivate you in little ways with inspirational dialog and tips. It even has built in social support if you opt to share the experience with supportive friends.

5. Mint (iOS, Android)

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You can be as healthy or as intelligent as you want, but money makes the world go ‘round. For some people, balancing finances or a checkbook (that is, if anyone still uses one of those…) can be much harder than getting in physical body shape.

The Mint.com Personal Finance app helps considerably since you can attach your financial information to Mint.com and the app and always keep track of where you stand. For instance, you can set a personal goal you want to reach, how much money you want to save, how much you want to spend on specific costs (leisure or bills), and so on.

Mint will manage all of it for you and keep you grounded with realistic goals. For instance, you may forget that you have a couple hundred dollars worth of bills every month—meaning that vacation you’ve been wanting to take might need to wait a bit. Instead of having a rude awakening staring at your bank account balance on a cold winter night, you’ll be able to consult the app daily and keep tabs on your routine.

6. Lift (iOS, Android)

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Most New Year’s resolutions aren’t just one time events—they are routines. Lift is the best app for habit-developing out there, offering an easy way to check in if you did your good habit, see other people who are going for that same goal, and even check out what the most popular habits Lift users are striving for. There’s no better place to get inspired to do simple daily things whether it’s waking up early, not eating fast food, or brushing your teeth before you go to bed.

The two biggest features Lift offers are its huge user database and perfectly simplistic user interface. When it comes to an all-in-one stop for turning resolutions into life-changing daily habits, Lift should do the trick.

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