Most people give up on their New Year’s resolutions by the second week in February. Isn’t this an unfortunate statistic? This means most of us only stay committed for a month and a half.
Naughty Naughty!!
If you haven’t been able to meet your goals in the past, the key is to figure out why that happened and to try and take a different approach in the new year.
If you can push through those first couple of months, you can truly change your life.
Three reasons why we might not achieve our New Year’s resolutions…
- We Fail To Pick Realistic Goals
We probably know this already, but the most common New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight, exercise and eat more healthily, all of these being achievable goals, yet so many of us just can’t seem to follow through. The reason being that we don’t take a realistic approach, and we set goals that sound AMAZING but are not quite attainable.
Ask yourself a question—which goal is more achievable? Losing 15Kg’s or cutting out refined sugars from your food choices? The answer is easy – cutting out the sugar, If you cut sugar from your diet, you’re more likely to lose the weight.
Bear in mind that choosing realistic goals or resolutions and then achieving them changes our whole mindset. Even a little victory is still a victory (e.g. going for 30 days without sugar), and you end up mentally preparing yourself for an even bigger success! YAY
- We Fail To Track Our Goals
We need to remember that habits and resolutions take a little time. To keep on the right path while you are waiting for the long-term rewards of your efforts, you need a reason to stick with it; you need some immediate feedback that shows you are on track to achieving your goal. The best way to do this is by tracking.
Tracking your goals is a fantastic way to hold yourself accountable. Keep things simple and like tracking your daily food, monthly measurements, or weekly weight loss.
Write everything down in a book or use an app or even a spreadsheet if you’re a spreadsheet kinda person. By having a visual representation of your results, you are more likely to stay motivated and keep going.
- Learn And Adapt
Hitting a setback is one of the most common reasons why people give up on their New Year’s resolutions. If you have a sudden relapse, don’t view it as a failure, it’s just a small speedbump in the path toward your goal, and you best believe it, there will be some challenges along the way. Instead, change your point of view and try and see them as learning opportunities.
This Doesn’t only work for weight loss; this goes for ALL New Year’s resolutions and goals, they need to be things that MOTIVATE you so that the yearly ritual of setting your resolution doesn’t have to be an annual disappointment. The difference between succeeding and failing is simply choosing the right goal and the process you use to go about achieving it.
The MOST important thing to remember is to be kind and also flexible with yourself and to celebrate all your progress along the way. It’s not just the end goal that matters—it’s about enjoying the journey along the way.
