Upon entering into the New Year, many people establish their resolutions and are set on making some kind of change in their lives. Whether it is losing all of that holiday weight and getting fit or being more aware and productive, people find the New Year as a way of starting over. They are a blank slate so to speak and they create a resolution to keep and maintain so as to bring about any change that they may wish to see. The fact of the matter is that most people fail to abide by their resolutions for more than a month, and there are many reasons for this.
The goal is not specific enough.
When it comes to setting goals and resolutions, it is absolutely essential that your resolution is clear and concrete. For example, saying that you want to read more is vague. How much more do you want to read? 2 books a week? A month? This avoids the possibility of overwhelming yourself and having the feeling that you're not successfully following your resolutions. By giving yourself a specific goal, it is easier to take the appropriate and specific means to achieve it.
It's not the right resolution.
As human beings, we are moved by what is most important to us. If we find something of relevance to us, we will gravitate towards it. In making a resolution, consider the reasons behind it. You may make it a goal to lose weight to show your ex what he or she is missing out on. Making resolutions based on passions and emotions do not usually last because of the way you feel changes all the time. When making a resolution, be sure to have the right reason for it. Do it for you because you want to do it and not for anyone or anything else.
The resolution is not attainable.
This is not to say that you should not dream big or set big goals or resolutions. The problem lies in the fact that sometimes the steps you take are too great that it actually hinders your success in living up to your resolution. Doing too much at once will eventually become burdening and exhausting. It will leave you fatigued and you'll end up not sticking to your resolution. Small steps are key to preventing such barriers because they allow you to do things at an achievable level every day. In this way, small steps make all the difference in effectively keeping your resolution and pursuing your larger goals.
There is a lack of consistency.
Consistency is critical in pretty much anything in life. We practice it daily in different areas of life. Consistency is a chief component in keeping resolutions, but it can be hard to be consistent especially if you find your goal to be too big or overwhelming. The solution, as previously mentioned, is setting small daily goals that you can do easily and that ultimately lead to your bigger goal. Setting small goals that you know you can accomplish on a day-to-day basis doesn't make consistency so hard. Remember, slow and steady wins the race!
