Resolutions were abandoned at a pretty steady declinewith many people giving up by the end of January.
By the two year mark, only 19% of people said they had stuck with their resolution long-term.
After all, who hasnt missed out on a workout because they were scrolling through their phone?
Verywell / Jiaqi Zhou
Instead, you might identify the problem now and pivot to a better plan.
Quite often, our first step is rewriting an existing goal to create something thats more manageable and measurable.
Identify the behavioral changes you want to see.
Rather than be healthier, make your goal to work out for 30 minutes 3 times a week.
Then, youll be able to assess whether youre on target.
So dont be afraid to give your resolution a complete overhaul.
Create ameasurable, achievable goalthat you could begin working on now.
double-check your goal is within your control too.
Identify what you want to accomplish this week.
Youll increase your chances of success when you actually have a plan.
Youll increase your chances of success when you have a clear plan.
Decide what steps youre going to take to turn your goal into a reality.
Identify what action steps youll take and when youll take them.
Anticipate Obstacles
There are going to be obstacles that will threaten to derail your success.
A family gathering might tempt you to eat unhealthy food.
Or an extra cold winter might mean higher heating bills, which may makepaying off your debtmore challenging.
Manyobstaclesare predictable and planning for them can make a big difference to your overall success rate.
Spend time thinking about how youll handle the inevitable challenges that will be thrown your way.
Track Your Progress
Find a way to hold yourself accountable.
Or it might involve using an app to help you track how much money youre setting aside.
A visual representation of your effort can help youstay motivated.
Get Support
Its tough to create changeespecially when youre doing it all alone.
Youll likely do better when you have somesupport.
Support can take many forms.
You might also consider hiring someone to help you.
Practice Self-Compassion
Mistakes are part of the process.
View them as an opportunity to learn and then, move forward with even more knowledge than before.
Talk to yourself the same way youd talk to a trusted friend.
A littleself-compassioncan go a long way toward helping you stay on track for the long haul.
If youve created a nearly impossible resolution for yourself this year, cut yourself some slack.
Identify smaller, more realistic changes that you want to incorporate into your life.
Norcross JC, Vangarelli DJ.The resolution solution: Longitudinal examination of New Year’s change attempts.J Subst Abuse.
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