The number one reason you can’t stick to your New Year’s resolution
As we approach the end of January you may be wondering why, yet again, your resolution hasn’t made it to the end of the first month. Apparently a third of us will set a resolution each year and, according to Forbes 2024 statistics, of these people 35% will resolve to lose weight and 33% to improve their diet. If this was your resolution and you have already given up on it, but know you will probably set the same resolution again next year, then read on. Because I will tell you the most likely reason you haven’t been able to stick to it and how you can get yourself back on track.
You probably think you already know why you have given up, you like your food too much or it’s boring being healthy or even that you always give up and don’t have enough motivation. But these are not the reasons why you are heading back to the cakes, biscuits, booze and takeaways.
The simple reason is that you didn’t make a specific plan for how you personally were going to stick to your resolution. That’s right, the plan you make has to fit in to your lifestyle. Most of the time when people make a resolution it is a general idea to get fit or lose a stone or eat better. In order to make it achievable you have to plan how you are going to make this happen.
If you are planning to eat healthy meals then you need to work out how you will do this if you have worked late. Will you have some healthy back up choices stored in the freezer, make use of a meal delivery company or have someone else at home who you can persuade to cook for you? If you have resolved to hit 10,000 steps each day work out how you will achieve this if you have a day of meetings or need to travel by car or train for the majority of the day. Will you be prepared to get up early and walk or go out when you return from work? If you can’t leave the house, will you get a walking pad or use a treadmill? It is essential to have planned this in advance. If you leave it until the end of the day when you are feeling tired, hungry and stressed you will choose the easiest option, the one that will bring immediate comfort. This option will probably not involve you heading out for a walk or starting to chop vegetables.
Before you give up on your resolution completely it is not too late for 2024. We are still in January (just). If you want to revive your new year’s resolution then here are the three things you need to do to enable you to stick to it.
1. Plan for how you are going to achieve your goal. Remember it has to fit into your lifestyle. You may need to scale down your expectations and build up to your goal slowly, that is fine, slow progress is better than giving up completely.
2. Plan for what you are going to do on your worst day. The day when you get home late or stressed or both. Rather than thinking you won’t be able to stick to your goal on these days work out what is the minimum you can do to keep you on track on your worst days.
3. Plan for what you will do when the wheels come off. When you have eaten all the pizza, drunk the wine, skipped the gym. What will you do then? Will this be enough to prove to you that, yet again, you can’t stick to your new year’s resolution? Or will you simply see it as a slip up and start again the next day, continuing to make progress towards your goal.
