Why Resolutions Don’t Work
Studies have shown that approximately 64% of us will give up on our resolutions before the end of January. Part of the problem is that usually our New Year’s resolutions are quite general and lack specifics. Many of us find these resolutions difficult to stick to over the long-term if we jump in full speed ahead with no plan for how to get there, or for contingencies. We can become very excited about making a promise to change, but we often lack the planning to achieve our objective, and we forget that there may be a great deal of work involved. Resolutions also often require us to change our behaviour over a long period of time, and then maintain these changes indefinitely. Sometimes that’s a lot to ask of ourselves.
We can also often get distracted by other goals that become our new priority, or maybe we fall victim to temptation and continue the old behaviour “just this once”. When setbacks occur, we often decide we just can’t do it! It becomes too difficult to get back on the horse after we’ve fallen off a few times. Instead, we conclude it’s all too hard and we’ll try again next year.
If you do decide to make a resolution or want to make some lasting changes in your life this year, keep the following factors in mind to give you a greater chance of success.
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