It’s that time of the year where many of us make plans on how to improve life for the next 12 months. In my case, my resolutions are based around learning new skills and remembering to relax and take some time out every now and then. Like with any resolution, though, we all need motivation and regular reminders to keep at it. There are plenty of apps that can help you in a multitude of ways, but we’ve rounded up our four favorites, each hopefully making life a little more successful!
WishLab
Visualization is a vital key to keeping strong and working towards your goals, even when times get tricky. WishLab is an app that encourages precisely that, by offering a place to write about wishes and aims, as well as allowing for time frames to be set, and progress to be tracked. Users can write about how they’re feeling about their goals, as well as be inspired by others through social features. The app will even remind users to keep going via push notifications or email alerts. Once the goal has been achieved, there’s an attractive section within the app to look back at how things went and feel good about oneself.
Released: 2012-12-13 :: Category: Lifestyle
The Habit Factor
Habit building is an important part of completing goals and ambitions. The Habit Factor encourages such sensibilities by tracking everything imaginable, from drinking water regularly to remembering to complete a certain number of exercise repetitions each day. It’s a little pricier than other tools, but its great user interface, color coding and note taking facilities should boost anyone’s motivation to achieve their goals.
Released: 2009-06-22 :: Category: Productivity
Fitocracy
One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions each year is to exercise more frequently. While Fitocracy can’t force anyone to get moving, it can give them great reason to persevere. Using a leveling up system, the app challenges users to compete with their friends, unlock achievements and complete quests. It effectively turns exercise into a game, which is something that many people can relate to and be motivated by. Plus, it’s fun to look back on progress as they steadily improve.
Released: 2012-03-29 :: Category: Healthcare & Fitness
Roller Journal
A mixture of useful tools, Roller Journal both provides a simple way of keeping a journal, while also encouraging users to reflect on the past year and plan ahead for the coming months. This is done through it asking the user a series of questions, creating the perfect foundations to a high quality journal to look back on. Simply writing about what you’ve accomplished that day can do wonders to your productivity levels and Roller Journal appreciates that.
:: MOTIVATIONAL
We all need some motivation when it comes to exercising. While I love the gym, there are still those days where I’d really rather not bother. While Fleetly won’t drag me to the gym, it will give me some much needed motivation.
It’s a problem that many parents face: how to encourage their kids to complete useful chores and tasks. The carrot and stick idea is a good one, encouraging kids to do things in exchange for eventual rewards. This is exactly why parents for years have organized sticker charts to give the youngsters a goal to attain. Once upon a time, my parents would give me a gold star every time I completed a chore with the promise of a toy He-Man: Masters of the Universe sword once I completed the chart.
Walking is a great way of exercising but it’s also a much underrated form of exercise. It’s easy to do requiring no extra equipment and sometimes not even any extra time – get off the bus a stop early, go for a walk with your kids in the evening or at weekends – it’ll all help. Studies show that walking for between 20-40 minutes a day can extend lifespan by up to 5 years and if nothing else, it’s enjoyable and relaxing. 
]
