Health and money are the two things, more often than not, at the top of new years resolutions lists around the world.
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But, according to Forbes, less than 10 percent of people achieve their resolutions.
So, what to do about it?
In a nutshell, New Year's resolutions offer the prospect of change and transformation.
We resolve to exercise more to become fit, eat better food to become healthy or save more money to become wealthy. The New Year's resolution is about goal setting and transition from where we are to where we want to be. But for the majority of us, the stress and routine of daily life sets in again around January 7 and our resolutions to change move into the background.
It's all about us
Statisticsbrain.com found in 2015 that of the top ten most popular resolutions among Americans; three were health related, around four were about getting one's life in order, two were about branching out, and one was inherently empathetic. So, making resolutions appears to be an exercise mostly about the self. It's all about us. And as we found out a few steps later, that’s not such a bad thing.
Does a resolution actually make us better?
According to one report, the best way to find out if a change is going to do us any good is to figure out the good and bad parts of the behaviour we want to change in the first place.
If the resolve to save more money (ranked at third on the statisticsbrain.com list) comes at the cost enjoying life to the fullest (ranked number four) or learning something exciting (number five), a compromise might be needed.
One report recommended busting out the yellow legal pad and jotting down a pros and cons list of things we want to change and the things we want to change to and then make the choice that’s right for us.
How to make a resolution stick
Once we have a plan for change that will work, the next step almost unilaterally agreed upon by the number crunchers in the know is to set specific and achievable goals.
To make a resolution possible, we need to make it about us. Let’s say we resolve to get in better shape. It’s a good resolution but, as Forbes asks, what does it actually mean? We need to set goals that we can achieve in real time.
Instead of getting in shape, we might want to make 10 pull-ups by March and cut that caffeine dependency from intravenous to one cup a day by April, then go about setting smaller, more regular goals on the road to that mountain climb.
Sounds tough? Motivation needed!
According to one theory of behaviour change, getting involved with groups who do the kinds of things we want to change about ourselves can be a great motivation driver.
Let's face it. It's raining. It's February. It's 6am. There isn't a herd of wild horses that could drag us out for that morning jog.
But research shows the hard slog becomes more manageable if we share our goals with friends and family, join a club (which can knock off one more from the top 10), and bounce off the good motivation vibes.
It's hard work, but hang in there and don't give up
Commitment. It's what killed last year's resolution and plenty more before that. But the trick is just sticking with it and knowing that it's not an all-or-nothing deal. Sometimes we will fall down and that is okay. If we didn’t, the win at the end wouldn’t be as awesome.
The key is whittling away at our goals, not chopping them down in one go. We need to dig in and and hang tough. It’s a New Year's test, not a one-dayer.
One technique several number crunchers agree on is to set small achievable goals along the road, rather than one big one at the end. Take things step by step on the gradual climb to the top.