At the break of each new year, we tell ourselves that we are going learn from our mistakes and misfortunes in the prior years, thus, we make a resolution for the upcoming year in hopes of doing better. Breaking habits, changing perspective, diets, exercising more and eating better are just a few things we say that we are going to change in order to achieve desired happiness. Sure, it sounds fantastic, but the most ironically enough, no matter how hard we try, we end up forgetting about or deciding not to pursue fixing the baggage. Why is that?
Pressure
Often times, we subconsciously believe that the new year means that we absolutely have to do something that we have always wanted to change. Our friends, the ones we verbally talk to and the ones we read about on social media, are constantly talking (or perhaps sometimes even gloating) about how they just joined a gym or did something different, while the rest of us sit here trying to figure out how to achieve said goal. It’s hard to shift lifestyles, and those that make it seem simple are leaving out important details.
Not being able to see the light
In life, we want to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we like to know that something good can come out of our hard work. No matter how hard we work, though, we find ourselves stuck in a hole that we can’t dig out of solely because the hole is too deep. Lifestyle adjustments are something that requires an extended period of time and a lot of determination to reach.
“Good luck with that”
One time I told a friend what my plan was for the new year and she looked at me, smirked and said “Yeah, okay, good luck with that” in an extremely sarcastic manner. Any sort of derogatory or demeaning comment can set a person to stray away from their intentions. Positivity is key. We want to know that we have support, so we must surround ourselves with supportive people. It won’t work if a goal is done alone. Find people who want to see you succeed.
Habits
A habit is something that is a practice that a person is used to doing day in and day out. A habit is something that is not easy to overcome, which is why people have such a hard time trying to break them. Eating fast food all the time is a relevant habit that comes into play a lot. If a person knows they want to stop eating fast food, it should just be that easy. For some inexplicable reason, however, it isn’t that easy. We like to take shortcuts whenever possible, so if it’s easier to get fast food rather than make a home-cooked meal for dinner, getting fast food is probably going to win the battle. Quitting cold turkey isn’t always the best option, but somewhere in between is a good place to start when trying to break habits.
Loss of motivation
It’s inevitable. Life gets in the way nine times out of ten, especially when we are trying to better ourselves. The key is to not get discouraged. Find ways to stay motivated. An easy and non-messy way would be to create a Pinterest account and find pins of the desired end goal to post on a board. Typically speaking, there is more than one person struggling with the same issue and they have found ways to overcome the problem. The best part is that Pinterest is free and a good way to waste time when there are priorities to be dealt with.
As 2015 quickly comes to an end, don’t let 2016 get in the way of dreams and goals. Instead of calling it a New Year’s Resolution, try using “goal that I want to achieve at some point so I’ll start now” or something similar. Baby steps can go a long way.
