New Years Resolutions and why they're destined to fail

Hi All.

It's mid-January, which means that a lot of people will have given up on their New Years Resolutions.

New Years Resolutions are a tradition for some, and the point of them is for people to change the way they currently live by changing their behaviour or changing a trait of theirs that they may possess. I believe it's a positive thing to do, but it's not for everyone.

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Usually, some people start with the mindset of:

"It's a new year, which means I'm going to better myself!"

And when asked about how they will better themselves, many will set VERY unrealistic standards for themselves.

"I'm going to go to the gym every single week!"
"I'm going to quit smoking/drinking!"

Some will even go as far as to buy a gym membership for a year to encourage themselves to go.

But a few weeks into the New Year and those resolutions are quickly broken. And this, as I stated before, is because of people's unrealistic goals that they set for themselves. A big part of setting goals is having them as achievable goals.

If you are an alcoholic for example and drink everyday, it will be very difficult to suddenly stop drinking on the 1st of January and maintain sobriety throughout the year. You must give yourself a realistic resolution, otherwise its only a matter of time before it is broken.

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So here is my advice for anyone who has a New Years Resolution.

1. If your goal is unrealistic, make it a bit more realistic. For example, for the alcoholic trying to stop drinking, they should perhaps try to only drink 3 times a week, then lower it to one day a week, then eventually stop. That is still progress and gets them to their goal, but is a bit more of a slow progression.

2. If you break the resolution, don't give up. Accept that it happened, then continue to follow it. Just because someone has broken their resolution doesn't mean that they should just give up and relapse into their old ways.

3. If you think that you're not going to be able to follow it, tell someone like a family member or a friend your resolution. When you tell someone about a goal, it is far more likely that you'll stick to it.

And with that knowledge, perhaps that resolution you gave up on may become something that you actually stick to.

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As an endnote, I'm going to try to write once or twice a week this year. That's my New Years Resolution.

Thanks for reading.