How are you doing with your New Year Resolutions? It has now been two months into 2012, and I think this is a great time to reflect on how you are doing (or not doing, as the case may be).
The first thing you need to understand is that your enthusiasm garnished around the New Year will have waned, and will continue to wane as time goes on. You are going to come up with excuses why you couldn’t lose any weight, or why you had to have that cigarette. It happens. It can be hard to maintain your motivation and dedication when you are unable to see immediate results. To get over this, be persistent and use your strong will power to keep chugging along, and eventually you will see your results.
Next, re-evaluate your goals that your resolution was to attain. Going with the losing weight analogy, is it realistic for your goal to lose 100 lbs. this year? Is it realistic for you to swear to vegetarianism or veganism, when you absolutely love hamburgers? By taking a second look at what you want to accomplish, you may discover that there is a different path to attaining a goal that is realistic for you, thus you increase your chances of being successful.
Another important step is to face your fear of change. Going to the gym four times a week is a huge change to your schedule, especially if you have classes and work to go to on a daily basis. Fearing change is a huge factor in failing at your resolutions. My best advice is to reward yourself for a job well done; after a month of going to the gym four times a week buy yourself some new shoes, or a new video game, something that will make it worth it.
Additionally, you may want to begin again without any recriminations. Basically, if you fall off track of your goal, set a new one and start again on Monday. In fact, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health encourages people to use Monday as a day for health and wellness. Despite your set back, you can get right back on track.
Also, make sure to keep your friends and family in the loop; if you have a strong support system in place, your chances of being successful are greatly improved. Choose someone to help you. This can be invaluable, specifically if that person is attempting the same resolution as yourself. Seek advice, ideas, and feedback as needed, and don’t feel bad for moments of weakness.
Finally, my best advice is to keep a gratitude journal. This can involve explaining what you did that day, how you feel, and what a good part of how you feel was. This can boost confidence daily as you can more easily see your progress, and can help you in your moments of weakness by reviewing your journal. Additionally, this can help you stay grounded and motivated.
Well, those are my tips for continuing or getting back on track with your New Year resolutions. Personally, I have been doing well with mine, which was quitting smoking. Occasionally I need a little bit of refocusing and support, but it is going well. I think I have beaten it.
Whatever your resolution is/was, I wish you the best of luck. I also encourage you to share your stories with others in my comment section.
-Jon
I don’t know if New Year’s resolutions last more than January! It’s so true that people have big aspirations to keep their resolutions, but end up forgetting and falling in the same patterns. If you don’t see results, you don’t want to keep following that resolution. That’s the main problem with people today. They want things too quickly without working for them. This was a fascinating article, thanks!
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