New Year’s Resolutions
Why Are They So Challenging?
We have made it through the first week of the new year. Did you make any New Year’s resolutions this year? The top resolutions include changes to diet, fitness and finances. According to Details.com, about 45% of people in the United States make resolutions, and by the
end of January about a third of them have set aside their resolutions to
pursue other interests. Almost three-quarters of those that make resolutions will give up before achieving success.
Financial Resolutions
A very popular category, most people’s financial resolutions center around saving more and spending less. If you are a fan of retain therapy, that can be a challenge!
A poll done on the staff of MONEY magazine came up with three main ways to help you be successful:
- Share your goals with others who will call you on it if they see you heading to the dark side,
- Practice Mindfulness (Ask yourself, “How important is this purchase I am about to make?”),
- Reduce Temptation, one way is by unsubscribing from shopping email lists. Read the whole article on Time.com.
No one’s ever achieved financial fitness with a January resolution that’s abandoned by February.
~ Suze Orman
Fitness Resolutions
The fitness industry tends to make a lot of money this time of year, as gym memberships increase and personal trainers hired. This is all very good, but when February rolls around – how many of those people are still making regular trips to the gym? There are three top reasons that fitness goals often go by the wayside:
- You (or someone close to you) thinks you SHOULD get in better shape. There often is no real desire to do what is required to meet this goal.
- You choose a really BIG goal (like being able to run a marathon next month), and when you don’t meet it, the entire effort is dumped.
- You give up at the first sign of “failure.” If you miss a whole week at the gym, you don’t have to give up – just go back!
Rappler.com advises that to be successful with your fitness goals, you need to avoid having an “all-or-nothing” mentality and to focus more on moving more and sitting less.
Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.
by Jim Rohn
Diet/Nutrition Resolutions
Diet resolutions are quite a lot like fitness resolutions, with the same sort of pitfalls when we set our goals too high or make our eating plan too restrictive. There are boatloads of studies that show most “diets” do not make lasting changes.
If you make your resolutions center around eating in a more healthy manner, you are more likely to end up slimmer and healthier.
Vanguard offers up these suggestions in the quest for a healthier you. You don’t have to do them all at once either; but the more you choose one of these options, the more your health will improve.
- Eat more fruits and vegetables
- Limit Fast-Food, or at least choose wisely
- Eat a healthy snack daily
- Be Mindful when you eat
- Snack less at work
- Reduce sugar intake
- Don’t skip Breakfast
- Eat smaller portions
Because today is another chance to get it right.
Making resolutions can be very rewarding as long as it is something that you really WANT to accomplish, and you don’t try to bite off more than you can chew (sorry about the diet joke!). Check out our 3-part series on self-sabotage for some other suggestions about how you can overcome those tendencies.
