Why do most new year resolutions fail?

According to a study conducted by Forbes, approximately 80% of the new year resolutions fail. Many people, over the years, have written about several new approaches which may be used to achieve our respective big goals and resolutions that include: Naming them differently, Approaching them differently and viewing them differently.
Despite so many articles floating around, popping up on our social media feeds, we still fail to make it through.

A recent podcast conducted by the Business Insider with Mr. Alpert talks all but a little about these not-so-practical approaches as well.

So here is another approach, that we think, might work for you.
Here is a list of 6 reasons why our new year resolutions fail, accompanied by 6 practical solutions as to how to make sure that they don’t fail. So the big question is:

Q. Why do most new year resolutions fail?

1. Is your resolution specific enough?
   →We make resolutions based on our assumptions with so many things. Most people take resolutions like, learning a musical instrument, going for a marathon or reading books.
   These resolutions look fairly easy and amazing, but they lack specificity.
   So you want to learn a musical instrument? Which one? How often do we need to play it in order to be well versed with the notes? How much time will it require? Are we willing/able to dedicate that much amount of time?
   Want to go for marathon? Are we fit for it yet/are we fit at all? What preparations are to be done for it?
   Most people lack answer to these questions before planning resolutions.
2. Are you framing your resolutions positively?
   →A lot of resolutions fail because most people frame it in a negative manner.
   Let us explain you with some examples :
   Many people take resolutions like “We will avoid eating junk food”, “We will avoid waking up late”. These methods create a negative feedback loop.
   It is just as similar as if I ask you to not think of white zebra with pink and blue stripes.
   It is a mere human tendency. To crave it more when you know you are not supposed to have it.
   Which is why, instead of telling ourselves “We will avoid eating junk food”, we should be telling ourselves the very behavior that we desire, like “We will eat healthy.”
3. Is your resolution about you?
   →One of the major reasons for failure of your resolution is that people forget the simple fact that resolutions are to be made for their own selves.
   “Goals need to be made for the individual”, says Alpert.” So often, people seem to be influenced by their friends, their family and what they see in the society.”
   Say for example: If you plan your resolution to go for a cycle ride or a cricket match every sunday morning, this isn’t completely for you.
   There might be times where you would get caught up somewhere or might have to stay up late on a Saturday evening and you would end up skipping the plans made for the next morning.
   Hence it’s always recommended to make resolutions for ourselves as an individual.
4. Does your resolution lack executable steps?
   →If you plan to read a lots of books this year and add a chunk of wisdom to your existence, you should also be knowing that reading books is something you should do more often to complete the number you have planned.
   Most people make resolutions about reading a book a week, which is very tough in the beginning.
   We skip a day or to and then think that we can complete this book in a single night but that’s most definitely not possible for everyone.
   Lack of executable steps is a very prime factor as to why we don’t/are not able to stick to our resolutions throughout the year
5. Are you planning goals/resolutions that need an identity shift?
   →How often have you seen yourself or others making resolutions like “Gym from Monday” or “Waking up at 5am from Monday”.
   You would do that for few days but you often fail in continuing this.
   That is because resolutions like these need an identity shift. You need to start sleeping early if you want to wake up early. For that you need to avoid screen time prior to bedtime. Again for which you would need to skip a couple of late night movies or postpone your plans of binge watching your favorite web series.
   So avoid making such strong resolutions that demands a complete identity shift for your Monday morning goals.
6. Do you sacrifice your resolution as the time passes?
   →We all plan on losing that extra belly fat and make resolutions to avoid that extra dessert at dinner and that pizza which you are seriously craving.
   But as time passes, we stop taking our resolutions seriously and end up thinking that ‘it’s-just-once-c’mon-I-deserve-it’ and go for a slice of pizza and then we lose momentum, the pattern breaks and so does our resolution.
   Failing to stick to a resolution makes us feel a little bad, we lose the motivation to stick to what we planned on doing and that again generates an ‘it’s-too-tough-for-me’ thought.

So here is how you can avoid these mistakes and stick to your routine and resolutions.

1. Limit your number of resolutions.
   →We can’t make so many changes in our professional or personal lives to follow each resolution very seriously.
   Limiting the number of resolutions will give you the space and freedom to do them in your free time.
   Plan small and less number of resolutions like:
   Reading atleast 5 books this year; or choose milkshake and salad for late evening snack; or reading one article every day.
   These resolutions can be integrated in your daily life. You can prefer to read or listen to an audiobook while commuting to work.
   You can choose your milkshake and salad at the food counter and you can read an article in the evening while commuting back from work.
   Resolutions do give compounded results over time.
2. Keep your resolutions as specific as possible and break them down in steps.
   →For example: If you wish to read 5 books a year, specify some short term goals.
   Plan to read one book in, let’s say about a month and a half or so.
   You can further prefer to read one chapter each week and even as less as 10 pages each day.
   If you travel by train or metro to work, click pictures of pages and scroll through them as you commute.
   Breaking bigger goals into smaller ones make the goal look doable.
   So doable that you would prefer to do that on-the-go.
   You can read 2 pages while your coffee is brewing. And as we finish those pages by the end of the day, it makes us feel good. It’s gives us that little sense of achievement.
   Same goes for learning musical instrument or learning a new language or even writing a book.
   The key is to break the goal into doable small parts and then do it on the go.
3. Create a reward system for your brain.
   →When you complete those little pieces of task earlier than planned and are able to do it regularly, then give yourself a little treat. Order that nice dish you love the most and enjoy. Tell yourself that you deserve this to be so consistent with your resolutions and feel good that you are sticking with it.
   Take that nice evening time for go-carting, you totally deserve it.
4. Write your goals in a diary and execute it.
   →Studies have shown that writing your goals on a piece of paper increases the chances of us completing them because your brain feels accountable for it. Also ticking them as you complete them gives a sense of accomplishment and triggers a positive feedback loop.
   This is why most of the CEOs continue to follow this method and it is considered as one of the key habits in the book ‘Miracle morning’ by Hal Elrod.
5. Ask a friend to join you individually.
   →By no means it means to set goals together. It merely means that if your resolutions include going to a gym or going for a run everyday, find a friend who feels like doing the same.
   By this way you create a sense of responsibility and the chances are that you would stick to your resolutions long enough for it to form a habit for you.
6. Write what you are learning in the process.
   →Express your gratitude and happiness as you proceed. Write about it on some blog or even on your social feed. Express how amazing it is to stick to something that you’ve always wanted to do.

These were few practical solutions to help you stick to your resolutions.
Please send us a feedback whether this helps you or not.

And if you have made it till here, then we thank you wholeheartedly for your time and patience.

Thank you.

Content Credit: Mr. Vikrantkumar Yadav

Edited by : Ms. Falak Doshi

~Panacea Publications / Panacea Intec (OPC) Pvt. Ltd.

~Panacea Publications / Panacea Intec (OPC) Pvt. Ltd.

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