For many, the New Year means a fresh start, a new beginning, a clean slate. Many of us take a resolution to change life from bad to good, but by February a vast majority fails to keep their promises.
In order to understand why we struggle so much to follow through with the resolutions we set for ourselves, the Huffington Post has jotted down some points, suggesting that it may be because we create resolutions entirely the wrong way.
People focus on broad goals and hopes, rather than creating a roadmap for the formation of good habits.
According to Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, suggested a plan for keeping your resolutions in 2014, saying that routines and habits are a powerful force underlying much of our behavior.
The author said hat the resolution should be as action and not a goal. He said that people design them incorrectly- very often they write out a list of goals, rather than writing a list of actions they're going to take and thinking hard about how to structure those behaviors so that they become habits.
It was suggested that one should create cues and rewards, which means that for example if your resolution is to lose weight and the activity you've decided on is to exercise twice a week, your cue can be a time of day and reward can be something that inspires a craving.
Duhigg said another major resolution mistake is that people fail to anticipate what the obstacles are going to be, so in the heat of the moment when you encounter that obstacle, it's kind of devastating, and it totally throws you off your stride. But anticipating obstacles ahead of time can help you stay on track.
It is important to acknowledge that setbacks are part of the process and sometimes they can even get you closer to your goal.
The expert said that instead of creating a massive list and attempting to chip away at each goal whenever you have the opportunity, one should focus on one resolution at a time, starting with the one that's most important to you.
