With the New Year upon us, we have an opportunity to start with a clean slate and perhaps turn over a new leaf. But as attractive as this sounds, unfortunately, most New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by the end of January. It always seems like a good idea to set a new goal for yourself in the coming year, but there are some basic reasons behind why New Year’s resolutions don’t work. If you want to create real change in your life, then it’s important to understand why a lot of people don’t get to see their proclamations blossom.
One reason why New Year’s resolutions don’t work is that people often take on too much when writing out their list. Some of these lists are like novels. The synopsis would read, “I want to change the entirety of who I am in one year.” This is a recipe for disaster; no one can keep that many resolutions. And it can also serve as a reminder of all the things you don’t like about yourself, which is more likely to send you running for the ice cream in your freezer, than send you running to the gym.
Another reason New Year’s resolutions don’t work is that they’re often based on things that you think you’re supposed to do, and not necessarily on things that you want to do. You think you should exercise more, you think you should lose weight, you think you should stop smoking, you think you should start keeping a journal. These are all good things, but if you don’t really want to do them, then there’s nothing really there to motivate you to keep at it. These types of resolutions can stress you out. Authentic passion behind your goal,is what it takes to keep your rump in gear toward making it all happen.
Naturally, we’re all really pumped when we first make our New Year’s resolutions. The last thing anyone wants, is to see their dreams deflated. Here’s an effective way to craft genuine change in your future. Pick one area of your life that you’d like to improve, and focus on making baby steps of progress in that area. By taking things a little at a time, you’re far more likely to follow through and take things day by day. And who says that you have to wait for the New Year? The rest of your life is starting now.