If you’re like most of us, half way through the New Year you can barely remember (let alone keep track of) the New Years resolutions you set for yourself. Maybe it was to quit smoking, save money, travel the world or eat healthy–which is the most common New Years resolution broken every year. Whatever change you want to make, most people believe that completing a task for 21 days in a row forms habits. Here are a few apps to help you keep motivated and focused throughout the year:
21habit: This app allows you make or break a habit and keep track of it for 21 days. When you sign up, you have two options, a free mode or committed mode. The free mode allows you to start your challenge, check-in every day to track your progress and stop your habit or starts a new one at any time. The committed mode requires that you invest $21 in your habit. For each day that you succeed, you’ll get $1 back and each time you fail, the $1 goes to charity.
Lift: This mobile app was created with the premise that you have a better chance of reaching your goals and establishing new habits if you add friends who can help make you more accountable. You can find friends on Lift by connecting to Twitter and Facebook, or by searching for them by name. Once you add friends, you can see each other’s checkins to give props or add comments for encouragement.
Fitocracy: AÂ winner of Mashable’s Innovation Index for Health & Fitness, this is a fitness app that features a more fun, addictive experience by adding challenges, quests, rewards, and a fitness community to help keep you motivated. Here’s how it works: Â You can get free workouts for any goal and experience level, earn points for every workout logged, earn badges for unlocking special achievements, view progress on any exercise with interactive charts and get support and motivation from the online fitness community.
Goals on Track: If spending your money on a challenge motivates you to complete a task, the “goals on track” app is worth a try. For $68 a year, you can make your S.M.A.R.T goals (“smart, measurable, attainable, realistic, timely), break them down to small bite-sized tasks, and make a tangible action plan then sync between the mobile and web-based versions so you can manage your goals on the go.
Proof!: If you’re guilty of using your mobile camera several times throughout the day, Proof is a fun way to challenge yourself and friends to complete a goal. Whether you’re looking to loose a pound or two or stick to a routine you can capture a photo or video proof with your smartphone. You can also customize a 7-day challenge from experts or create your own. And, if you’re really competitive you can raise the stakes or add a “prize feature to keep family and friends engaged in the game.