How are those New Year’s resolutions going?
Published on Fri Jan 14 2022 in Lifestyle
January 19 is “Quitters Day”, coined after a global research project found 19 days is the average length of time new year’s resolutions are kepti. Whilst some resolutions may be easier to maintain than others, most people will have abandoned their resolutions by mid-Februaryii.
All life-improvement plans begin with good intentions, but if they were easy to maintain, we wouldn’t need resolutions. So how do you stay on the same path that you started the year on? Here are some tips to keep you on track.
Make a plan
We all know the adage, ‘fail to plan and you plan to fail’, so set yourself up to succeed with a well thought out plan. Decide what you consider success will look like with an achievable and measurable goal, for example a resolution to ‘lose weight’ is vague and not measurable. Whereas a goal to ‘lose 12kg by the end of the year’ is both achievable and success is easily determined. Plan how you intend to achieve this goal ahead of time and be specific e.g I will walk to the shops every week instead of driving, I’ll swap Friday fish and chips to BBQ Chicken and salad, and I will not bring biscuits into the house.
Break it up
Mountains are climbed one step at a time. If you have a challenge that is overwhelming to you, break it up into achievable steps. For example, for many people, decluttering their home can be an overwhelming thought. However, breaking the challenge up into rooms, and even further, into parts of a room, can help overcome that overwhelmed feeling. It is easier to keep your focus on achieving just the next step, rather than the whole challenge.
Be accountable
Just ask any politician, public pressure makes for good motivation. Make your new year’s resolutions known publicly on social media or to at least one friend and ask to be held accountable. Make sure you advise your plan and timeline, so they can check in with you at the critical stages.
Do it together
Research has found that those who exercise in a group exercise 10 percent longer and 21 percent furtheriii. It also found that joining a club boosted people’s activity 46 percentiv. This strategy could be applied to many resolutions. As a group aligned with the same goal, you may be more inclined to complete the steps due to accountability within the group. Even if you don’t know others with similar goals, there are virtual groups on many social media platforms that you can join to help achieve your goal.
Progress, not perfection
In your plan, you should prepare for a misstep or two, and decide what you will do if you have a setback. For example, if you get tempted and drink more than your resolution of only one alcoholic drink a week, your plan could be to forgo alcohol for the following week. This way, you won’t feel like chucking it all in just because you had one slip, as you have a strategy to rectify it.
Reward yourself along the way
One big reward at the end of a challenge may not be as motivating as smaller, more frequent rewards along the way. For each step in your plan that you achieve, ensure you reward yourself. It just may be the motivation you need to achieve the next step, and as they say, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. This tip is especially good for those resolutions that we struggle with or do not particularly enjoy doing.
Keep going until it’s second nature
The best kept resolutions are changes we implement everyday to become a habit, not a temporary change. It is commonly thought that it only takes 21 days to form a new habit, this is unfortunately not correct. Whilst it takes only 66 days on average for a change to become a habit, for some people it may take up to 254 days. The positive side is, by the end of the year it will no longer be a resolution to struggle with, rather a habit you won’t even noticev.
-
About Author: Momentum Life is a leading provider of Life insurance and Funeral insurance in New Zealand.
i. New Year's Resolution Fail Within Jan 19 And Feb 14, Based On 800 Million Activities (indiatimes.com)
ii. New Year's Resolution Fail Within Jan 19 And Feb 14, Based On 800 Million Activities (indiatimes.com)
iii. New Year's Resolution Fail Within Jan 19 And Feb 14, Based On 800 Million Activities (indiatimes.com)
iv. New Year’s resolutions last exactly this long (nypost.com)
v. How Long Does it Take to Form a Habit? Backed by Science. (jamesclear.com)
TAGS:
The content provided in this article is for information purposes only. The information is of a general nature and does not constitute financial advice or other professional advice. To the extent that any of the content constitutes financial advice, it is limited to Momentum Life products only and does not consider your specific financial needs or goals. You should consider whether the information is appropriate for you and seek independent professional advice, if required.
All product information is correct at the time this article was published. For current product information, please visit the Momentum Life website.