It happens every year. January 1st arrives and we’re full of positive intent. “This year,” we tell ourselves, “is going to be different.”

With the best intentions at heart, we vow to stick to our New Year’s resolutions. To wake at 5 am and begin our morning routine of meditation, yoga, a run, and a green smoothie before bounding into the office 30 minutes early with a beaming smile on our face and a spring in our step.

Then the third week of January arrives and everything changes. We realize that 5 am morning routines might work for some people but we’re more than happy to have two cups of coffee and a donut before stumbling into the office five minutes late – the ‘new you’ can wait until next year.

And we’re not alone. Only 15% of New Year’s resolutions are kept, the rest fall quietly by the wayside. This happens for a number of reasons. Firstly, we set ourselves unrealistic expectations. Change is tough and requires more than just willpower alone. It requires a commitment of time and energy, and a desire to want to do things differently.

Secondly, we rarely have anyone to hold us to account if don’t hold up our end of the bargain and we don’t put a system in place to track our progress. And it’s this that can make all the difference.

We’re not suggesting you hire a life coach to follow you around every minute of the day picking you up on all the bad habits you swore you’d get rid of, but we do have a pocket-sized hero that can keep you heading in the right direction.

Here’s how you can use Flic to stick to your resolutions, not just in January, but throughout the whole year.

Log your activity

Straight out of the box, Flic works with Strava and Runkeeper making it easier than ever to log your activity. If you’re trying to hit the gym more in 2019, you can also use the timer function to record the amount of time your working out or the counter function to count the number of times you’ve been to the gym. With IFTTT and Zapier, you can hook both of these actions up to a Google Spreadsheet so, with every press of the button, you’re logging your sessions.

Measure what you’re eating

Eating healthier tops the charts when it comes to the most popular resolutions. Flic can help you track both your good habits and bad habits. You can stick one on your refrigerator and press it once every time you eat something healthy and twice every time you eat something you said you wouldn’t. You can even take it one step further (like this guy did) and integrate your Flic with Google Analytics to run your very own Data Studio report.

Buddy up

On the accountability front, you can use Flic to easily send messages. Say you’ve made it your goal to quit smoking, at the end of every smoke-free day you can push Flic to send a message to a loved one to let them know you’ve gone another day without lighting up. Or, if you want to read more books in 2019, you can set Flic up to send a message to a reading buddy as soon as you finish a book you’re reading.

Make things simple

Flic can help you make life simple. Rushing out of home in the morning? Simultaneously turn off all your lights, your heating or air con, open the garage door, close your window shades and arm your security system. Getting ready to go to bed? Then turn on your electric blanket, dim the lights, lock the doors, set your alarm and start tracking your sleep. Automating simple tasks can end up saving you a huge amount of time throughout the year – time you can then spend instead doing something you love, whether that’s taking up a new hobby or simply spending more time with friends and family.

Make 2019 your best year yet and let Flic help you along the way.