Tired of Breaking your New Year’s Resolution, Instead Do This…
How not to break your New Year’s Resolutions……
Everyone creates a New Year’s Resolution just a few days before the year ends.
But there is a Staggering Stat that I can’t get my mind around.
Only 9% of people complete their New Year’s resolutions.
More importantly, 23% of people quit their resolution by the first week of January, and over 43% withdraw by the month’s end.
Why is that?
These account for many factors:
1. Extrinsic Motivation
Everyone associates a new year with a new milestone for their aspirations.
It acts as a starting point and creates a new benchmark which in turn leads to the setting up of new habits, hobbies, or interests.
But the problem is that a big goal or a sudden change lasts only till there is extrinsic motivation. The habit, hobby, or interest is pursued only if you are motivated toward the goal. The motivation to continue usually dies out within the first month. The question that arises is:
How do I maintain this Motivation?
Fix: Identifying the smaller milestones within your main goal and hitting these small milestones will give you a sense of progress which in turn will make you feel good which in turn builds motivation and leads you to achieving your goals.
It’s a vicious cycle that compounds.
2. Small Hiccup
Now that you have decided the goal you want to achieve in the new year and set small milestones, people still end up quitting their resolution.
It often comes down to a small hiccup or a small mistake that you make within the first week or two that causes people to abandon their goals.
They are under the impression that I broke it so might as well not continue with it. This is a wrong attitude.
Fix: Realizing that obstacles and hiccups are a part of the journey and that one small mistake doesn’t move the goalpost further and can act as a stepping stone to achieving your goal.
3. Time Duration
Setting a longer time horizon makes the goal very distant and gives room to adjust to this timeline. Instead of creating a routine around it, we tend to push the dates back further and further away until it isn’t possible.
Excuse 1: I can start later I have the entire year.
Excuse 2: I’ll take a break for now, still have plenty of time.
Excuse 3: I broke it might as well start again next month.
These are the different types of excuses we come up with. It just delays and more often than not ends up breaking our resolutions.
Fix: Set smaller timeframes for the different milestones. This avoids procrastination and also allows you to track your progress.
4. Easier Route
Even after taking all the above steps, it is always easier to quit your goal than endure the hardship.
It makes taking the easier route out very simple. But during a time like this, there is one thing I always remind myself about:
Why I started in the first place.
This reminds me about my goal and helps me revisit the reason I got started in the first place. It does ignite intrinsic motivation which could be enough to continue down that path.
Identification Framework
- Identify the obstacles or factors that could derail your goal.
- Create a plan around your goal.
- Work towards your goal and follow the plan.
However, breaking down your big goal into small steps is key.
Working towards those small steps and completing the small hurdles builds intrinsic motivation and develops a sense of progress.
Your New Year resolution could be as small as spending 30 minutes of less screen time on your phone to a bigger resolution of losing over 10–15 kilos of body weight.
Whatever it may be, I hope these steps can help you achieve the goal you desire in the new year.
This New Year let’s try building on the habits, and decisions that we postpone or neglect every year and let 2024 be the year we work towards the person we want to be.
Do share and comment if you found this article interesting or have something more to add to the subject, and I am always open to feedback. It would be great to hear about your different resolutions for the new year.
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