Five of the most unsuccessful New Year’s resolutions
Every year, millions of individuals set New Year’s goals in the hopes of making a good difference in their lives. A more active attitude to health and fitness and discovering new skills for personal development and improved finances are all reoccurring themes each year.
1. Be more organised
Before you go out and buy a bunch of storage containers, keep in mind that keeping this New Year’s resolution is exceedingly tough. The issue is a misunderstanding of what being organised entails. True organisation needs a detailed check of your living area and a decision about how to best utilise it. It also means changing your habits so that you don’t accumulate items unnecessarily, and that you plan ahead for various eventualities. Review your current habits and lifestyle, then look at the ways they cause discomfort for you and think of how you can make meaningful changes.
2. Make more money
It can take years to improve your salary, so aiming to make more money in a short amount of time is unlikely to be effective. Instead, the emphasis should be on preserving money rather than earning more. Decide what is absolutely necessary and what may be reduced in order to generate more money over time.
3. Lose weight
This is a great New Year’s resolution to have, but without a strategy and realistic expectations, it is nearly always guaranteed to fail. The reason for this may surprise you: a lack of specifics. It’s important to ask questions that clearly outline your goals: How much weight do you want to lose and by when? How much time do you want to allow yourself to achieve this goal? Will you go to the gym; if so, how many times a week? Is that healthy and realistically achievable? Put simply, you won’t get the results you want if you don’t understand what you want.
Make a strategy with mini-deadlines and a solid food and exercise plan. This elevates it from being a vague declaration of desire into a SMART goal (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound). For example, “I will exercise for at least 20 minutes four times a week for four weeks in order to lose six pounds by the end of January.”
4. Be healthier
This New Year’s resolution is, once again, far too unclear. What does be healthy mean to you? Being healthy could mean different things to you on different days depending on how you feel! Don’t try to remove sugar completely if you have a sweet tooth. Instead, make one little change at a time, such as swapping out your night time ice cream for a bowl of berries. While it may not sound as thrilling as a general commitment to ‘eat well’, it will satisfy your cravings for sweets and ensure that you keep your promise.
5. Join the gym
While it’s certainly a great resolution to have, simply resolving to ‘get in shape and go to the gym more’ is a resolution that frequently fails without a clear approach. You may become sore and disappointed when you attempt to accomplish too much too quickly. This causes many to eventually give up, and their New Year’s resolve is abandoned. As above, have a clear strategy. Look at your gym’s timetables and set the days and times when you will work out. If you really want to be held accountable, consider having a workout buddy or signing up for personal training to help you set and achieve realistic goals.
Make your New Year’s resolution last
