NEW YEAR, SAME HABITS? DECODING THE REASONS RESOLUTIONS FALL FLAT

At the start of every calendar year, many of us embark on the familiar journey of setting resolutions with a desire to make a positive change in our lives. However, the stark reality is that most new year's resolutions fall by the wayside before the end of January. In fact, 17 January is unofficially known as Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day! It is usually around 2-3 weeks into a new year where many of us start to falter and give up on our resolutions. Let’s explore 4 of the most common reasons why we might give up on our resolutions so soon and what you can do to get back on track.

1. Vague goals

Resolutions often fail because they lack specificity. Vague goals such as "getting fit" or "eating healthier" make it challenging to establish actionable steps and measure progress, leading to frustration and abandonment. When setting goals, they should be SMART:

• Specific – the goal needs to be clear and precise
• Measurable – you need objective evidence to measure achievement of your goal
• Achievable – a goal needs to be realistic and something you can reasonably be expected to accomplish, otherwise your motivation and belief can quickly disappear
• Relevant – the goal needs to be relevant to you and to your values
• Time-based – a goal needs to have a target date for achievement for motivation and so you can also have a date to work towards

It also helps to express the goal as a positive statement and in a way that it has already happened. For example, your original goal may be “to lose weight,’ which is vague. We can change this into a SMART goal such as ‘It is 30 September 2024 and I weigh 72 kg’. Don’t be too strict either. Life can be unpredictable, and rigid resolutions often crumble in the face of unforeseen challenges. If you do falter, this does not need to be an excuse to give up on your goals altogether. Instead, assess whether your goals simply need a bit of tweaking. Building flexibility into your goals allows for adaptation, increasing the likelihood of long-term success.

2. Trying to do too much

Attempting a drastic overhaul of multiple aspects of life all at once can be overwhelming. We also tend to overestimate how much we can do in a short period of time and underestimate what we can do in a long period of time. The key is to focus on just a few achievable changes, allowing for gradual adjustments that are more likely to then become ingrained habits. So, start small. Only try to implement one or two habit changes at a time. If you try to change too much at once, you will spread yourself too thinly. If something seems too hard or complex, then break it down into smaller steps. Don’t be overambitious as that can lead to giving up and not reaching your goal. Make small incremental change. You can’t expect to harvest the fruit the day you plant the seed.

3. Lack of Accountability

Accountability is about making a commitment to taking certain action. It’s easy to slip back into old ways if you are not being held accountable. You can achieve this by pairing up with another person, such as agreeing to go to the gym with a friend, checking in with your trainer, tracking your food intake on an app, or making an announcement to the world on social media. If someone else is aware of your desire to change, it is so much harder to fall off the wagon. The moment you make your goals known, you are more likely to stick to your game plan. There’s nothing worse than telling people you are going to achieve something and never getting there. The pressure of a deadline is also powerful, such as entering a 5 km race in two months’ time if you are new to running. Here are some examples of being accountable:

• to another person – agreeing with a friend to go for a walk together at a certain time
• to a group of people – telling your family and friends you are taking a break from alcohol
• to the world at large – posting your commitment on social media that you will eat a healthy meal every day and posting a photo of the meal

4. Environmental factors

Our physical environment plays an important role when it comes to our daily behaviours. For example, when it comes to food-related decisions, many occur in distracting environments and may lead to mindless eating. This can include eating meals while scrolling on social media or watching tv, which can lead to overconsumption. Look at what you can add to or remove from your physical environment to support your goals. For example, if you want to eat more fruit and reduce your alcohol intake, you could add a fruit bowl to dining table so that fruit is easily visible and remove alcohol from the home. If you want to exercise first thing in the morning, set out your workout gear the might before so that you can get ready easily and quickly when you get up.

Your social environment matters too. Think about your behaviours and how much they are influenced by your surroundings and by your connections. Do you drink too much on a Friday night because that’s what your friends or colleagues do? Or do you get up early on a Saturday morning to go for a run with friends and grab a coffee afterwards because that is what that group of friends does? A deep human need for belonging can shape and influence our behaviours and our activities. So, if you want to increase the likelihood of embedding positive habits, design your life and your surroundings in such a way as to make good habits easier and bad habits harder to follow. Find support for designing your environment by seeking out a tribe or community that supports those habits. And they can also help keep you accountable too!

Final thoughts

Reaching your goals and making lasting change requires thoughtful planning, specificity, accountability, and adaptability. It also requires patience, and you should aim for sustained progress instead of expecting immediate results.