Why New Year Resolutions Don't Work, And What To Do Instead! -

Why New Year Resolutions Don’t Work, And What To Do Instead!

“New Year, new you” is a phrase you will see all over the print and social media. Everyone has a mental list of habits they would like to change, and the New Year seems like a perfect time to start. But just because it sounds right to your ear does not mean that it contains any meaningful truth. The year will certainly change, but you will likely be the same person on Jan. 1, that you were on Dec. 31.

It is natural to use landmarks to evaluate your life. Times like birthdays, New Year’s Day, and transitions like new jobs, or graduations are all times that lead people to think about what they have accomplished and what they have yet to do.

Millions of people in the world make New Year’s resolutions each year, but only a small fraction of them manage to keep them.

The statistics are bleak: only 8% of the people who make New Year’s resolutions stick to them and those who don’t usually abandon them after just one week.

If you struggle to keep your New Year’s resolution, you might not be approaching it in the right manner.

What Do People Make Resolutions About?

Approximately 50% of the population makes resolutions each year, primarily focused on weight loss, exercise, smoking, money management, and debt reduction. According to a recent poll, the most common New Year’s resolutions, in order of popularity, include:

Exercise more (38 percent).
Lose weight (33 percent).
Eat more healthily (32 percent).
Take a more active approach to health (15 percent).
Learn new skills or hobbies (15 percent).
Spend more time on personal wellbeing (12 percent).
Spend more time with family and friends (12 percent).
Drink less alcohol (12 percent).
Stop smoking (9 percent).
Other (1 percent).

Why New Year Resolutions Don't work? Dr. Bhanu Abohari

At FITrebel.in, we broke down four of the biggest reasons people fail to complete their resolutions each year.

From what we understand there are 4 common reasons so many people’s New Year’s resolutions end in failure.

Here’s what we found out:

Your resolution isn’t specific enough!

One of the biggest reasons people fail to keep their New Year’s resolutions is because they’re not specific enough.

Why New Year Resolutions Don't work. Be specific. Dr.Bhanu Abohari

For example, resolving to “exercise more” or “lose weight” are easy ways to set yourself up for failure, as they lack ways to mark progress and are unlikely to keep you motivated throughout the year.

What To Do Instead?

Try making your goal specific, like running a marathon you have circled on the calendar or losing 10 kgs by a certain date.

“It’s easier to drop out or walk away when you set goals or resolutions that are vague,” “When it’s really detailed and specific, it’s harder to walk away from it.”

Why New Year Resolutions Don’t work

Having a timeline on your resolution is helpful, so think of short-term, medium-term, and long-term benchmarks that will let you know you’re on track to achieving your goal.

“What do I need to do this week, what do I need to do over the next month or so, and what do I hope to accomplish over the next several months?”

They Are Framed Negatively!

Another problem people face when making resolutions is framing them with negative language.

What Makes Negative Thinking Such a Difficult Habit to Break? Dr. Bhanu Abohari

When you do this, you’re eliciting in yourself negative emotions. Some negative emotions are motivating, but for the most part, they’re not.

If you say, “I’m going to stop eating junk food,” to use an example, you’re denigrating yourself before even getting started. You’re better off framing your goal as “eating healthier” so that you’ll remain motivated and optimistic.

When people resolve to stop wasting money or stop eating junk food, for example, it often backfires because it makes them think about the very thing they’re trying to avoid.

“It’s almost like I say to you, ‘I don’t want you to think about what a zebra with pink and blue stripes looks like” “You kind of have to think about what that would look like not to think about it, right?”

What To Do Instead?

Try framing your goal in positive language instead.

So much of how we talk to ourselves impacts our actions and our behavior.

We need to feed ourselves positive self-talk. Instead of telling ourselves ‘Don’t eat junk food,’ we should be telling ourselves the behavior we desire, like ‘Eat salads and nuts as a healthy snack.’

Also Read: What’s Your Game?

Your resolution isn’t about you!

Another major obstacle people face is the tendency to make New Year’s resolutions that don’t reflect what they actually want. So often, people seem to be influenced by their friends, their family, what they see in society.

The biggest culprits are dieting and exercise trends. But it can apply to any number of goals, like a career-related goal inspired by what you think other people expect of you.

What To Do Instead?

Your goals need to be made for the individual that is you. Would you want to drive a car your neighbours selected for you? Or wear a shirt that your hairdresser thinks is cool? And these are life altering goals we are talking about here. Don’t be someone else’s version of yourself.

I think it’s important for people to set goals that are for themselves and unique to themselves. Not everyone would want to amend the same aspects of their life. Figure out what your life is lacking, and consider working on that.

You Don’t Consider Setbacks!

In order to adopt better habits, you don’t have to make zero mistakes. In fact, you will do better if you expect them as part of the process.

Why New Year Resolutions Fail? Dr. Bhanu Abohari

You will fail repeatedly and if you are not prepared for that in advance, that failure may as well be permanent. In a state of high motivation, we tend to make exaggerated claims about what we are going to achieve, forgetting the fact that there will be times and situations which will steer us away from our goal.

For that example, you may start to religiously work out at the gym, but at some point in the year, there may be a period where the flu keeps you in bed for a week or a few days when you need to set aside your plans for the sake of your job or family.

What To Do Instead?

Pick up from where you left. Eating one healthy salad a day instead of two is better than not eating anything healthy.

Why New Year Resolutions Don’t work

Why New Year Resolutions Don’t work

You need to take this break as an interruption and not as a permanent failure! No endeavor worth your effort will be free of failure. If you are not failing enough, you are not trying hard enough.

Failure, in general, points out a deficiency in your approach, it’s a map to correct the process. If you constantly fail to eat the cucumber salad because you don’t like the taste, substitute it with something equally healthy and more tasteful like green apple.

In Conclusion!

At the very least, New Year’s resolutions collectively remind us of the importance of improvement. Whether we hope to eat healthier or give back more in 2021, each New Year is a shining opportunity to consider bettering ourselves and the world around us.

Deciding to set a resolution doesn’t mean we limit our goal-making to once a year either. It means we take advantage of the new beginnings to kickstart more fulfilling lifestyles.

In many ways, resolutions allow us to imagine a year that’s happier and healthier than the last. When we refuse to make them for fear of failure, we miss an important chance to reflect on ourselves, our lives, and the hopes we have for the future.

So, for 2021, resolve to do those things that you will be glad to have done when you look back from 2022.

Why New Year Resolutions Don’t work