A new year ideally represents the beginning of a new chapter in the book that is your life.
And while most people strive to make drastic changes to specific aspects of their lives, only a handful actually succeed. Many folks abandon their resolutions within the first weeks, and most goals are revisited season after season. But whether the goal is to develop a new routine or quit a habit; the key is dedication and consistency.
So, why is it so tough to maintain resolutions, regardless of our good intentions? A lot of people blame their inability to keep resolutions on a shortage of time, finances, drive, or a lack of ardor after they begin. If you are one such individual and have struggled to reach your goals previously, the aim is to understand why you did not follow through and adopt a new strategy in the new year.
We’ve researched and come up with a few of the most common reasons why people don’t seem to follow through on their yearly resolutions. Read on for some great insight. And if you can get through the next few quarters, you might be back to thank us for helping you grow into the best version of yourself.
Lack of Planning
Planning makes a big difference when trying to establish good habits. You need to ask and have answers to questions like, "Will I have to get up early in the morning to go to workout, or do it after work?" Or, "How will I stay within my spending allocation when my colleagues insist on so many post-work hangouts?"
Long-term success requires predicting obstacles and implementing appropriate solutions. It is also essential to be aware that challenges and hiccups could and most likely will happen. In fact, according to research from the University of Scranton, persons who are good at keeping long-term resolutions fail at least 14 times before finally getting it right.
A stunning 71 percent of people indicated their blunders fueled a renewed determination to achieve their objectives. Therefore, making a plan ahead of time can assist you in navigating how you will bounce back from your unexpected failure. And that's a crucial component of averting total failure from simple setbacks. Make your plan as detailed as possible, and then stick to it. Again, remember to write it down.
Setting Unrealistic Resolutions
Resolutions are more about what you want to do than what you should. People either create extremely ambitious goals that become quickly unattainable, or they set relatively simple goals that swiftly tire them. It's crucial to check your resolutions to see if they're realistic.
Is it possible to quantify them? Is there a time limit on them? Are they unique in any way? Are they aligned with your objectives? Is it possible to divide them into smaller portions? Is it realistic to expect them to be completed within the timespan you've assigned? To maintain morale, ensure that the goals are realistic enough to attain without overhauling your entire lifestyle at a go.
Failure to Track Your Goals
Resolutions and habits take time to form. As such, it’s prudent to have rewards in the short term as you wait for the long-term benefits or eventual outcome. Any form of confirmation that you are on the right track serves as excellent reinforcement on the determination to keep going. Therefore, it's crucial to keep track of your progress on the road to the long-term changes that you desire.
Setting goals and keeping track of them is a terrific method to hold oneself accountable. For example, daily eating, monthly measurements, and regular weight checks are simple items to track for someone on a weight loss plan. Use a vintage diary or an application or worksheet to record everything. Goal-tracking will help keep you motivated-you are more likely to remain inspired and continue pushing if you have a visual depiction of your past day’s or month's progress.
Not Willing to Change
The urge to declare an intention to improve your life is a common and global phenomenon at the close of each year or as people start the New Year. While resolutions are good, be keen to make resolutions depending on what you want to achieve and not what you think you should be achieving.
When your soul isn't in it, merely claiming you want to go to the gym more regularly isn’t going to help you get in shape; you need to consciously be willing to put in the time. After several days at the gym, you might discover that you're somewhat of a "slacker" and not the sportsman you envisioned, leading you to give up exercising for good.
On the other hand, a devoted resolution to make the changes you intend will push you to persist even when the body does not respond as you wanted, the finances fail, the time gets constrained, or when morale fails you completely. And while some people's preparedness for change coincides with January 1st, it is crucial to embark on change when your path to change faces the least chance of physical, mental, and emotional obstacles.
Self-Doubt
Allowing your inadequacies to influence your aspirations is a set recipe for failure. Being skeptical of yourself or unsure of your abilities refocuses your resources and effort on "Why I can't perform the tasks is…" Don't let a perceived or momentary setback or discouragement turn into a lasting failure as you progress.
Instead, embrace gratitude, kindness, and affection for yourself as you develop. Understand that growth is as important as achieving the end results. So start by planning, implementing, training, and seeking assistance from the right mentors. Believing in yourself is a big part of the process, and with it, you’ll find that half the work has already been done.
Overconfidence
While it’s true that a loss of confidence will prevent you from achieving your objectives, overconfidence can sometimes be far more harmful. When you believe that your goals will be simple or that you are overqualified for the position, you will be underprepared and ill-equipped to deal with the realities of the journey that gets you there.
Change is difficult. Recognize that pushing yourself to do something that you might not immediately excel at is also tricky. It's not a sign of weakness to admit that staying on track will be challenging. On the contrary, it depicts a good understanding of reality. Acknowledge that you have flaws and will face challenges, and you'll better emotionally equip yourself to achieve your resolution.
Financial Strain
Many people abandon their resolutions if the accompanying costs are too significant. Losing weight, for instance, can sometimes necessitate a costly gym subscription. Be resourceful and look for affordable solutions to achieve your objectives; go for the cheaper plan. For instance, one can train and work out without going to the gym and still achieve weight loss.
If your plan for the new year was to get a set of ergonomic furniture, you do not need to break the bank to do so. For instance, you might have been eyeing the Standing Desk E8 from Flexispot. This exceptionally well-built standing desk with powerful dual lifting motors, an anti-collision function, child lock, and cable management will cost you £419.99.
Should it happen that the financial implications of buying that desk go outside of your budgetary allocation (budgeting is always a good plan when making significant purchases), consider any of Flexispot’s height, adjustable standing desks within your budget to ensure that your resolution to reap the health benefits of a standing desk does not come to a complete halt. Of particular, check out the E8 and the Comhar All-in-One standing desks.
Not Evaluating What Must Be Sacrificed
There is a price to be paid! Quite often, we overcapitalize the gains and neglect to consider what it might cost us to attain said gains. Hitting the gym three times a week may mean spending less time with your family or not watching your favorite show. Ensure you're willing to make the sacrifice before you enroll for the subscription.
Adhering to a spending plan cuts down on impulsive buying and meals out with acquaintances. How will you deal with these uneasy sensations or the unpleasant talks that inevitably arise once you have to explain that you can no longer do the things you liked doing as a group in the past?
Understand what you have to benefit from the new routines before devoting yourself to attaining them. Also, consider what you'll have to sacrifice to make the shift. Simply realizing this and creating a strategy to cope with the change in advance might help you remember that it's worth the expense you'll incur.
Lack of support
Without assistance and support, it becomes harder to accomplish set objectives. As the saying goes, ‘It takes a village.’ Help can take many different forms. Professional coaches, instructors, and tutors are the diamond mark of quality when it comes to guidance and mentoring. But if someone offers free advice from experience or research, take it, and don’t forget to conduct due diligence.
Launch a text message accountability forum with a few buddies. Don't be scared to seek help if you need it. "Associate with individuals who motivate you to be more, do more, and have more.” If you want to enhance your basketball game, train with stronger players who motivate you to be great. Let your choice of friends reflect in the value you impact upon each other's lives. Even if they're potential partners, reject so-called "energy vampires," or folks who sap your psychological and emotional energy.
Quitting Easily
Quitting should never be an option unless it negates some level of harm to you or people in your environment or the environment itself. Especially, don’t quit because you feel frustrated or experience a loss of enthusiasm. Most individuals create resolutions with the sincere hope of achieving them, but the thrill has worn off by February, and other commitments have taken priority.
Revisit and revise the short-term milestone markers to something achievable to overcome this problem. Reduce the contribution to your savings to stop feeling like you're earning for your future self and leaving nothing for your current self. Cut the workout time by 15 minutes if it feels like it’s too much. If going on a diet drains you out completely, visit a dietician and ask for an alternative plan. Bottom line: If it seemingly takes more than it’s giving, you will lose morale faster and, more likely than not, abandon the resolution.
In conclusion
Just because most resolutions fail, it does not guarantee yours will fail too. You can commit to your resolution this year if you're ready for the reality of the struggle and are determined to invest your time to achieve the desired result. Maintaining the new year resolutions requires one to be critical, conscious, take accountability, remain dedicated, and devote all attention to synchronizing vitality, thought, and action.
Begin by seeing your destiny; make the image significant and vivid enough, experience it vigorously, and keep it as a standard reference. Do not be tough on yourself, and most significantly, appreciate the shift and transition phase. Note that both losers and winners have the same aims; what separates them is how they bridge the 'void' between them.
