New year, new you, right? Every December 31st, right before Midnight, people decide to come up with a plan for the new year, and they make New Year’s resolutions.
Resolutions are a tradition in which a person decides to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal, or otherwise improve their lives. For most people, it’s “I want to lose weight in the coming year. I want to be healthier.”
So how many people actually do what they say they’re going to do (and stick to it)? Probably about 12%. While the majority are very confident at the beginning, when they make the resolutions, they often “give up” because they’ve created unrealistic goals (from a size 16 to a size 2 dress in 2 months? Yeah right!), didn’t keep track of their progress (thought I was losing weight, but, oops, looks like I gained 10 pounds last month– should’ve checked the scale more often, huh?), and/or they forgot about them (what did I say I’d do back in January– I don’t even remember!).
So how do people make resolutions “stick,” whereas they actually accomplish what they set out to accomplish? The trick is to come up with goals that are made in terms of small and measurable goals. For instance, instead of declaring you want to “lose weight in 2020,” you should say, “I want to lose one pound per month in 2020 by eating less and exercising more.” With that specific goal in mind, you just might achieve it!
It also helps to be accountable to someone or something in order to make your resolution stick. For example, if you decide you want to stop using swear words in 2020, and you come up with a plan whereas your family members make you put $20 in a jar (where the money goes to charity) every time you do swear, you’re going to be held accountable for your actions. Pretty soon, you’ll avoid swearing because you don’t want to give away so much money! Or maybe you decided you “want to exercise more.” What if you and your sibling or co-worker make it a point to take a mile walk once a week at 2pm every Friday for the next 3 months? Write down your plan(s) on paper– put it on the calendar. Have the other person “check in” with you, often, and then both of you take your weekly walk together… it can be a good time to chit chat such that you don’t even realize you’re exercising!
If you tell a lot of people what you plan to do and then you do it, that’s great. If you tell people and then don’t follow through, that’s not good. With help from friends, family and others, including your chiropractor, you can stick to your New Year’s resolution(s) in 2020. You never have to “go it alone.” Those who succeed often have the support and backing of others in their lives. Oh, and they’ll reward themselves at the end, when they’ve accomplished their goal.
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