Are you ready to leave 2022 behind? Ready to make that change in 2023? We are too! The end of the year gives us time to reflect on the good times and the not so good times. It even gives us a chance to prepare ourselves for the new year and set new challenges. This is when New Year’s Resolutions come to play. Often, we might set New Year Resolutions on our own or we do it with people we love. Either all, it is an opportunity to set a goal we wish to achieve which can be all the more exciting.
Why We Set New Year Resolutions
To set goals for ourselves means we are wanting to make a change for the better.
However, why is it that we make these “New Year’s Resolution” goals at the beginning of the year when we can set these goals whenever we want? When a new year approaches, it gives us a new opportunity to use the new year as a transition into a new norm and start fresh. The new year can also be seen as starting over with a clean slate. The excitement behind a “New Year New Me” is what keeps us holding onto creating New Year’s Resolutions. Even despite the fact we may have set some in the past and never achieved it
Why Our New Year Resolutions Fail
If you are someone who has set a New Year’s Resolution only to see it be given up come February, you are not alone! Research has found that up to 64% of people who set New Year’s Resolutions dump them by the end of January. So why don’t we follow through with our New Year’s Resolutions? With all the excitement of setting a goal, it can create a barrier for us to thoroughly think through a plan. With no preparation or plan, we attempt to change without considering the discomfort we may feel in making that change. For example, if your goal is to lose weight, a concrete plan can help you maintain the motivation to continue exercising, even during tough periods.
How To Set New Year’s Resolutions That Last
Setting a New Year’s Resolution is the easy part. But when it comes to following through with it, that’s when it starts to get tricky! But these tips can hopefully help you to stick to your intentions and finally achieve that New Year’s Resolution!
Set yourself a goal and find your WHY
Setting a goal and finding your WHY can help you stick to that goal. This is because it helps you understand how important that goal is to you and the values and emotions you hold toward it. Valuing the goal and becoming attached to it emotionally can help you to feel good about the goal and stick to it.
Plan and Prepare
Think of the 5 P Approach – Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. This can include setting a long-term goal and then breaking it down. What do you want to achieve in 6 months? see in 3 months? happen in 1 month? What can you achieve this week? Preparing and breaking down the big into smaller goals can help us to maintain motivation and keep us on track. This is because we can continue to see progression and success in a shorter amount of time while still working towards the big goal.
Set Up Your Space
This means setting up an environment that would promote positive behaviours to achieve your goal. This might be creating a weekly plan/routine or surrounding yourself with people who are also motivated and share similar goals.
Celebrate All the Wins
Tracking progress is also important to ensure we can look back and see how far it is we have come. Using those small goals, we created before can help us to see how we have progressed and what we have achieved in the amount of time we have committed to the goal. Another aspect of this is celebrating the wins. No matter how big or small, rewarding yourself for each new achievement will help you to maintain motivation and continue pushing through to that major goal.
Be Patient with Yourself
Setting a goal is easy but the going can be tough. That is why it is important to be patient with yourself. You may find at times you go backwards, or you have a lapse. And that is okay. When this happens, give yourself time to take a step back. Remind yourself of your WHY and reflect on the barriers or obstacles that led to not meeting that short-term goal or the drop in motivation. This could be making a switch in our environment or identifying the goal was too big and unrealistic for us to achieve in a small amount of time. Whatever it is, patience and trial and error will help you on your journey to achieving your goal.
We at Veretis hope these tips are helpful and we wish you all the best in achieving your New Year’s Resolution!
More Information
Throughout December we will be exploring the topic ‘Wrapping Up The Year’. We look at shining a light on mental health, and how you can survive through the holiday blues. We then look to the new year with the psychology behind how to set new year’s resolutions that last.
For more information contact us today. Please send us an email, give us a call at (02) 9929 8515, check out our LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or find more Psych Up! resources here.
