On New Year’s Resolutions

Posted on March 4, 2020 By Katrina In Systemization

By now, more than 80% of New Year’s Resolutions have been abandoned. If yours was among them, here are some possible reasons why:

1) You didn’t actually want it

Perhaps you set a “should” resolution – something you think you should be doing that you don’t actually want for yourself. It’s very hard to achieve a goal you have no genuine interest in.

2) It was too ambitious

If you set your sights too high, you will very quickly find yourself failing to meet expectations and getting discouraged. Even if your big, ambitious goal is reasonable long-term, it may have been too much for one year.

3) It wasn’t challenging

When it comes to goals, too easy can be just as bad as too hard. If there’s no challenge to your goal it’s unlikely that the process will be very rewarding. Goals that are too easy to accomplish are also easy to put off, and easy to forget about.

4) You didn’t turn your goal into actions

If you set a goal to lose weight, but don’t plan any changes to your diet or activity levels, it will almost certainly not happen. You are what you do every day, which means that if you want to make a big change, there needs to be something you are doing every day or every week that is moving you in that direction.

5) You weren’t prepared for hurdles

A plan that only works if you never get sick or have a stressful work week or go on vacation is destined to fail. For a resolution to work there should be a plan or cushion to accommodate the unexpected (but ultimately foreseeable) events in life.

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The thing about the New Year is that it’s arbitrary. Today is just as good a day to start a new habit as January 1st was. So if you’ve already abandoned your New Year’s Resolution, you still have a chance to start fresh. Figure out what went wrong last time, create a plan for how you’ll do things differently, and pick a new starting date.

How does tomorrow sound?

Your Mission:

If you’ve got a failed resolution you want to revive, ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Do I actually want this, or do I just think I’m supposed to want it?
  2. Is the goal I set for myself both realistic AND challenging?
  3. What is the thing I’m going to do either every day or every week that will get me to my goal?
  4. When and how will I check-in to see if I’m still on track?
  5. What will I do when I get off track?