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What New Year’s resolutions did you commit to at the start of this year?
Are you celebrating currently because you stuck with it, or did your resolutions never make it to February?
If you are part of the latter, then you aren’t alone.
A whopping 92% of Americans give up on their resolutions at some point through the year. Most people call it quits by February 1st, although about 68% of people give up before then.
Despite all our good intentions, it’s quite shocking to know that one in seven of us don’t believe we will stick to our resolutions.
But why are we so good at breaking resolutions?
Statistics say more than half of us lack self-discipline (and we know it) to see resolutions through. About 43% of us are too busy to focus on new habits, while 40% of us give in to social pressure.
When you decide on resolutions or any change in your life, you need to change your attitude, approach, and mindset. You have to think differently about things so that new ideas become the norm.
Resolutions are created with the idea of making positive adjustments to your life. This alone dictates that you can’t continue as you had previously—you have to commit to thinking differently and putting in the hard work.
Every resolution is an intention—lose weight, save money, go to the gym, pay off debts—but an intention alone isn’t enough. You have to take action to see the resolution come to life.
A resolution isn’t a goal until you state it in a way that makes your intention and action steps irrefutable. A goal should have enough information to formulate a plan for how you will make the resolution part of your life.
Another issue is that resolutions are often about things we have wanted to change for a long time but haven’t committed to previously. They haven’t been a priority for an entire year, but somehow, we think that by stating it as a resolution, the change will happen automatically.
We need to focus on self-discipline and being excellent in every effort. Deciding to skip a day or cheat occasionally won’t get you to your end goal faster, so start focusing on what you really want and how to get there.
Every time you come up with a resolution, you decide to change your life. It shows that you want to make a lasting change rather than a temporary adjustment.
Resolutions only work if you create new habits to make them stick. Think of it like this: If you want to eat healthier but always have junk food for dinner, then you have to change this bad habit and make your own meals.
You have to replace the status quo with something more productive.
Part of sticking to habits requires that you remain accountable for your actions. Failing happens, but how you react to failure determines whether your resolutions remain part of your life.
Don’t allow yourself to slip back into all habits or placate yourself with the idea that it’s okay to not do something “just this once.” It’s much better to recognize that you messed up and come up with a plan for how you will rectify the situation and do better in the future.
Resolutions, goals, and habits start in your mind—you have to think about them before you can make anything happen. Sorting out your thoughts can be troubling all on its own, so for this next year, start by creating a resolution to improve your understanding of your brain.
Your brain is an amazing tool, but you need to use it properly. Sign up for the Brain-A-Thon and get more insight into how all of this works together.
What are your resolutions for 2022?
Get a pen and paper and write them down.
If you haven’t thought about it yet, then right now is the ideal time to think about it. Don’t wait until the start of next year; you want to be ready in January already.
Now, take your resolution and turn it into a goal.
Goals should be SMART—specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.
In the case of resolutions, the associated time is a year, but the rest of the factors are up to you.
Here are some examples:
Resolution: Lose weight.
Goal: Lose 20 pounds by the end of 2022 by eating healthy and going to the gym three times a week.
Resolution: Save money for the holidays.
Goal: Save $1,200 this year by putting aside $100 per month for 12 months.
Once you have set goals, write them down under your resolutions.
Write your goals on another piece of paper and add them to your vision board. Find images to motivate you and put them around your goals so that you have a constant reminder of what you are working for.
Place your vision board in a visible area.
Go over your goals daily so that you never forget why you are making such an effort. Ideally, look at your vision board every morning, before work, or in the evenings.
Read your goals out loud and make use of affirmations to help instill a sense of self-confidence.
Many people come up with goals but never do anything to achieve them. It’s because they don’t make a plan of action.
If you wrote down a SMART goal, then you should already have an idea of what you need to do to achieve your goals.
Let’s take the previous examples a bit further:
Goal: Lose 20 pounds by the end of 2022 by eating healthy and going to the gym three times a week.
Action Points: Eat healthy (which could mean making a meal plan and drinking eight glasses of water) and exercise three times a week.
Goal: Save $1,200 this year by putting aside $100 per month for 12 months.
Action Points: Save $100 per month (by setting money aside as soon as you get your paycheck).
Make your plan even more workable by adding the action points to your diary or schedule.
For the weight loss example, block out time to exercise on three different days of the week, create a meal plan every Sunday, and prepare your meals a day ahead of time.
In the savings example, you could write down “$100 transfer” on the day after you receive your salary for every month. Alternatively, you could sign an automatic monthly transfer with your bank.
By scheduling your plan into your diary, you are making a commitment to stick to it. It becomes easier to do the tasks because you are reminded of them frequently.
The make-or-break factor for any resolutions and goals is always your mind and what you think of your own abilities. Take charge of your thoughts and change them daily through the techniques taught in the Brain-A-Thon.
This free training will change your approach toward resolutions and help you to achieve them faster than ever before.
Coming up with resolutions, goals, and a plan is the start of great things. It’s the first step to the future you have only imagined until now.
The idea behind all of this is that you build habits to sustain you throughout life. If your plan becomes a habit, then you are much less likely to break them because the activities are ingrained into your mind.
Habits don’t develop over time, so be patient with yourself. It takes 60 to 100 days for a habit to stick, but that will help you to make it part of your life forever.
Every step you take in building a habit brings you closer to the resolution staying with you for the entire year.
Habits are built when you take small actions daily, so that should be your focus. A resolution or goal can seem huge, but you can overcome this perception by breaking them down into much smaller pieces.
For example, for the weight loss goal, you could focus on only one part of it at first. You could decide that you are going to start by drinking four glasses of water daily for the first week and then bumping it up by two glasses the next week.
Work on that one aspect of a habit for several days or weeks until it is a part of your life. Then, add the next action step and work on it until it becomes a habit.
Reflect on your progress every week. Determine whether you have failed or succeeded.
Celebrate every milestone you reach and reward yourself for your hard work. If you fail, don’t break yourself down; instead, figure out how to get back on track.
Healthy habits are part of the focus at the Brain-A-Thon. We are going to show you the shortcuts to hack your brain into a tool that works for you and not against you.
We only have a limited number of spots left. Reserve your space now so that you can earn more, live more, be more, and give more.
