New Year's resolutions and why they often fail
It's the beginning of 2018 and most of us have probably made some New Year's resolutions, but how many of these New Year's resolutions are actually going to be accomplished? I know that I often don't accomplish them because somewhere in May or June I just don't care that much anymore what I wanted in January. The main reason why I and probably a lot of other people fail is because you put the bar too high, your New Year's resolutions are too ambitious or just ask too much of you and that can be quite hard for you to accomplish. So how do you handle this better and manage to accomplish at least some New Year's resolutions?
Don't be so hard on yourself?
I like being hard on myself, I always thought that this would be the best motivation to do something or get something done. Unfortunately that's not always true. The problem with New Year's resolutions is that you often want too much too fast. For example a lot of people want to lose weight and there is nothing wrong with that, but a lot of people aren't realistic about this. Losing weight might seem simple, perhaps for some people it is, but it's often not that simple. I remember one year I tried to lose weight, I wanted to lose 10 kg and kept myself to training and healthy food. After three months I was curious how much weight I lost and I was disappointed that I only lost 4 kg in all that time. This can demoralize you and ultimately make you want to quit with your resolutions, at least for that year. So my advice would be to start small, don't try to lose large amounts of weight but start with a small amount. If you can accomplish that then you can try to do it again, because if you can do that once then you could do it again. So instead of trying to lose 10 kg in one go try to lose 5 kg first. If you did that once then you could do that again and then you have still accomplished what you wanted. The same can be said about quitting with smoking, something a lot of people try but a lot of them fail. Instead of trying to stop immediately you could try to smoke less and then eventually get to the point where you quit completely. Unfortunately this doesn't work for everyone and there are some people that can quit just like that. We're not all the same and we all have our own way of dealing with things. So the trick is really figuring out what works best for you. Just try to keep in mind that a small victory is still a victory. Don't look too much at what other people do or accomplish but stay focused on your own goals and resolutions. If you want to exercise more then don't go all crazy at the start of the year, just build up a healthy balance of things you can do without putting too much stress on your body. The same counts for eating habits. Don't starve yourself because the craving for food will intensify greatly if you keep that up and you'll most likely end up hating yourself more and more if you keep that up or if you end up failing.
It's not a terrible thing to fail?
It sucks if you can't accomplish your New Year's resolutions, especially if you can't even accomplish one of them. That makes you miserable and self loathing is quite a natural thing to feel at that moment. But it's not the end of the world, just because you had a weak moment or didn't manage to accomplish what you wanted doesn't mean you should give up completely! Instead of looking at what you can't do try to look at what you can do. If you feel like giving up then don't slap yourself in the face for it, because I have given up so many times with my resolutions and as much as I hated myself for it I always managed to move forward from that point. Ok it sucks you didn't succeed but it's not the end of the world, there are other times you could succeed or you could try to do something else that might work. Of course you want to succeed and that makes perfect sense, but that doesn't mean you're a loser if you don't succeed. Sometimes you have to fail before you can succeed. That might seem weird but it's something I had to see for myself before I could believe it. Be realistic with your resolutions and start with simple goals, something you're more comfortable and more confident with. The feeling of succes can motivate you to raise the bar a bit higher next year. But don't let failure demoralize you, it's rough but you can always try again. Don't let one failure be the deciding factor with your resolutions. We all fail at one point, but that doesn't mean we all want to give up. If you have a hard time with your resolutions then try to find others with similar resolutions or people you trust for some support. It's great when you can do things on your own but most of us stand much stronger with some support.
Good luck and have a good year with your resolutions!
Don't be so hard on yourself?
I like being hard on myself, I always thought that this would be the best motivation to do something or get something done. Unfortunately that's not always true. The problem with New Year's resolutions is that you often want too much too fast. For example a lot of people want to lose weight and there is nothing wrong with that, but a lot of people aren't realistic about this. Losing weight might seem simple, perhaps for some people it is, but it's often not that simple. I remember one year I tried to lose weight, I wanted to lose 10 kg and kept myself to training and healthy food. After three months I was curious how much weight I lost and I was disappointed that I only lost 4 kg in all that time. This can demoralize you and ultimately make you want to quit with your resolutions, at least for that year. So my advice would be to start small, don't try to lose large amounts of weight but start with a small amount. If you can accomplish that then you can try to do it again, because if you can do that once then you could do it again. So instead of trying to lose 10 kg in one go try to lose 5 kg first. If you did that once then you could do that again and then you have still accomplished what you wanted. The same can be said about quitting with smoking, something a lot of people try but a lot of them fail. Instead of trying to stop immediately you could try to smoke less and then eventually get to the point where you quit completely. Unfortunately this doesn't work for everyone and there are some people that can quit just like that. We're not all the same and we all have our own way of dealing with things. So the trick is really figuring out what works best for you. Just try to keep in mind that a small victory is still a victory. Don't look too much at what other people do or accomplish but stay focused on your own goals and resolutions. If you want to exercise more then don't go all crazy at the start of the year, just build up a healthy balance of things you can do without putting too much stress on your body. The same counts for eating habits. Don't starve yourself because the craving for food will intensify greatly if you keep that up and you'll most likely end up hating yourself more and more if you keep that up or if you end up failing.
It's not a terrible thing to fail?
It sucks if you can't accomplish your New Year's resolutions, especially if you can't even accomplish one of them. That makes you miserable and self loathing is quite a natural thing to feel at that moment. But it's not the end of the world, just because you had a weak moment or didn't manage to accomplish what you wanted doesn't mean you should give up completely! Instead of looking at what you can't do try to look at what you can do. If you feel like giving up then don't slap yourself in the face for it, because I have given up so many times with my resolutions and as much as I hated myself for it I always managed to move forward from that point. Ok it sucks you didn't succeed but it's not the end of the world, there are other times you could succeed or you could try to do something else that might work. Of course you want to succeed and that makes perfect sense, but that doesn't mean you're a loser if you don't succeed. Sometimes you have to fail before you can succeed. That might seem weird but it's something I had to see for myself before I could believe it. Be realistic with your resolutions and start with simple goals, something you're more comfortable and more confident with. The feeling of succes can motivate you to raise the bar a bit higher next year. But don't let failure demoralize you, it's rough but you can always try again. Don't let one failure be the deciding factor with your resolutions. We all fail at one point, but that doesn't mean we all want to give up. If you have a hard time with your resolutions then try to find others with similar resolutions or people you trust for some support. It's great when you can do things on your own but most of us stand much stronger with some support.
Good luck and have a good year with your resolutions!
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