HOW TO: From Resolution to Habit
Did you know? The idea behind New Year’s resolutions has been around for thousands of years. Yes, thousands. Ancient artifacts and historical documents show that even the ancient Babylonians made annual promises to their gods some 4000 years ago!
From the Babylonians to medieval knights, the notion of annual promises and self renewal is nothing new. Strikingly, 45% of Americans make a New Year’s resolution..
But what percentage of people do you think keep that promise?
What if I told you our keen instincts in conjunction with our procrastination have birthed not one, but two national holidays committed to displaying our inability to stick to our goals. Well mark your calendars!
January 17th – Ditch Your Resolution Day
February 4th – Fall Off the Wagon Day
Cringe. Why are we like this?
Why is personal growth so hard? Why is it so difficult for us to choose ourselves from time to time. We need development too, right? We spend time teaching our children and taking care of our spouses. We visit family, and we nurture friendships at work. But what about ourselves? Growth is important, especially now when so much of the world feels chaotic and out of control (did you see the Christmas morning pictures.. yikes).
So why do most resolutions fail? Even if you pick the right resolutions, there’s still a good chance that you’ll drop the ball or lose focus at some point. That’s completely normal. In fact, remember that statistic from earlier? The answer is…
8%
While 45% of Americans make a resolution, only 8% achieve their goals in the new year.
BUT WHY? And what can we do to fix it?
Here are some common reasons resolutions fail… which ones are you?
You focus on results and not the process. Think baby steps. Incremental improvements. chunking, if you will.
False Hope Syndrome. Has your impatience or excitement ever gotten the better of you? Have you tried something new and not been a pro at it and just quit? SAME. Read this article to learn more about it, BUT if you’re not quite ready to dive into your personal growth just yet (see what I did there?) here’s a little snippet to peak your interest.
“…let’s say you took art lessons for the first time, expecting to become a professional portrait artist in a month, but failed. If you had cultivated high-hope based on evaluating your current situation, you might have tried again by adjusting your expectations to more reasonable ones, instead of internalizing the cause of your failure, and either giving up, or giving way to ‘false hope’ by re-attempting an unrealistic cycle.”
Your goal doesn’t match your values. This goes without saying that your goals have to be for you. If your goals are to run a marathon with your best friend, and you hate running… thumbs down, partner.
You picked something too big. One word, overwhelmed.
You’re trying to do multiple things at once. Learn to play piano. Get a promotion at work. Hike the Appalachian Trail. Lose 10 pounds. Take my family on vacation. Send out Christmas Cards on time this year. Eat nothing but crockpot meals for 365 days, blog about it, charm people with my personality, become rich and famous, buy a farm and never eat another crockpot meal again… See what I mean.
You don’t have a clear plan in place (especially when things go wrong.) How will you handle obstacles along the way?
There’s no clear reward each time you complete your resolution. To create a habit, you have to reward yourself along the way. It’s also important to remember that rewards don’t have to cost money.
FINALLY.. The end is here. We’ve touched on all of the reasons we might fail, but what can we do to prepare ourselves for success? Use the 3 M’s!
Make it meaningful.
Make is measurable.
Make it manageable.
Whatever your plans are for the future, know that you’ve got people in your life that are proud of you. People that will lift you up and at the same time give you grief but want to see you win! Do something that would make you proud of you.
