2023 is moving at a fast pace. Since the new year, we all partied like there was no tomorrow and gorged on sumptuous food and delicacies. It was all feast & fun, booze & banter, love & laughter everywhere. Full On PARTY!! And like all good things come to an end, the party fever also faded gradually, and we are back to our jobs/chores/businesses. But, wait, we forgot something very inherent to New Year’s…
The Resolutions!
We all make them, and we are guilty of breaking them too. OOPS! Yup. It’s that time of the year. Half our resolutions are already forgotten a week post-New Year’s Eve. But, like all other years, we make them and try to keep up with them, sometimes sincerely, and then break them just as systematically.
The Resolutions are an exciting thing. We make these promises to turn a new leaf with the New Year. It promises to change something undesired, start something new we wish to incorporate into our lives or accomplish a personal or professional goal. While this can be done any time of the year, the start of a New Year feels like the perfect opportunity to say to yourself, ‘New Year, New ME.’
Let’s take a look at some most common New Year’s Resolutions that are made around the world (and broken around the world)
As good-intentioned as they are, we do our best to keep them going till at least the next DAY. But then the dreaded reality of daily routine strikes us, and our so-called ‘benevolent’ plans fail. OUCH!
Yes, it does. And it is more common than you think. If statistics are to be believed, most new year’s resolutions don’t live beyond the first month. A whopping 57% quit after the first month!
A good 1/5th of the resolutioners (i.e., my kind of people) will quit in the first week itself!! And only 1/10th of all will keep it running for the entire year. SIGH.
So, what goes wrong here? We had all the good intentions. Yes, we did try to keep it accurate. We kept up with it. So why do most resolutions fail?
REASONS MOST RESOLUTIONS FAIL
1. Hopping on the Bandwagon
Most of us aren’t even serious while making these resolutions. We may have all the intentions hoping it does, somehow, go well. But the fact is that we made new year’s resolutions because ‘It is New Year’ and because ‘it is the thing to do.’
The fact that we made it just out of the blue makes it lack the seriousness to follow it through, and hence the inevitable happens.
2. TIMING
If we have genuine plans to follow a resolution, then any day is a good day. It need not be a ‘New Year’s Eve’ to resolve. It is just deciding for your plans to materialize ‘One day’ or that day is ‘Day One’ on your plan execution.
Maybe new year’s morning is not a day you are entirely ready to take on the bet.
3. Motivation
The biggest culprit of all. We lose motivation as we follow the goal. We got inspired initially, made a resolution, and had the motivation steam going strong to see the resolution launch. But somewhere in due course, we lose steam, and slowly the motivation begins to die, causing resolutions to fall apart.
4. LIFE
Yes, Life Happens. And life does take over. You may call it by different names like ‘getting busy,’ ‘prioritizing other things,’ ‘shift in focus, ’ blah blah… but yes, life does take over, and it gets difficult to break the vicious pattern of daily routine that causes plans to fall through.
So, is it the End of the Road?
Well, not yet…If we understand what causes the fall, we may be on the road to understanding how to keep it going.
HOW TO MAKE
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS WORK ?
1. Get your WHY right:
First and foremost, Understand and agree in principle WHY you are resolving. Once you know your reason behind the resolution, and you can look at it daily, you will be able to follow it through.
Yes, it will still take effort but at least not in reminding yourself of the goal each day!
2. Make smaller goals:
Yes, this may sound contrary to popular notion, but think about it…if your goals are more extensive than what you have done so far, you are challenging yourself out of your comfort zone, which is challenging in itself. On the contrary, making smaller goals help your confidence in knowing you can achieve them. If higher goals motivate you, there is nothing like it. Go for it by all means.
But if you doubt being able to follow your dream, it is better not to badger your already shaky commitment. Better to begin small, build confidence and then challenge yourself out of your comfort zone. So instead of making a goal to ‘LOSE WEIGHT’ or ‘SLIM DOWN,’ make a goal to ‘Drink eight glasses of water each day.’ This looks smaller, achievable, and worth a try. And although small, it does contribute to the bigger goal of losing weight!
3. Get CONSISTENT
Motivation is a big word. I wouldn’t go for it. But if you are a self-motivated individual – You are already blessed! You do not need a new year’s excuse to resolve to achieve your goal.
But if you are the timid kind, motivation is something you struggle with already. So, instead of looking for motivation, look for consistency. Look for how you can be consistent with doing what you have planned. It should become a part of your existing routine and, therefore, manageable. So, instead of planning a big makeover overnight, strive for something you can keep up with daily.
4. One Step at a Time
Yes, there is a lot to achieve, and we must change all that overnight, but that will not happen. Point BLANK.
So, if you want to achieve something, make only one resolution at a time, follow it through, and then go for the next month. It looks stingy and small to aim so low, but if it works, it is not tiny!
So, my lovelies, even if you are one of my kind who cannot keep your resolutions beyond Week one, don’t lose heart. Lose your self-badgering and start ‘SMALL and STAY CONSISTENT’!!
Veena Gupta, a homemaker, doting mother, and a loving wife, who takes pride in a long-standing career in Banking and Finance. While her life took shape and as she was pursuing all this, something kept tugging her creativity. This pull lead her to decide to express her thoughts through writing. True to her name, her words flow from her pen to resonate with the reader’s mind like the soothing music that the musical instrument Veena creates! For someone who likes to experiment in life through adventure sports, trekking, and other varied interests, Veena likes to bring her experience, background and perspective to her readers through her simple yet effective writing to push the fact home!
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