Every January, the calendar turns over to a new year and gives people the opportunity to make changes and start fresh. Gilbert K. Chesterton, English author and poet, said, “The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.”
Most people make grand plans at the beginning of January, and by the end of February or March have given up on them. By and large, this is not necessarily due to the fact that people are not good at following through with their goals, but due to the fact that the goals are not attainable or not reasonable. It’s very difficult to make sweeping character and lifestyle changes all at once. The American Psychological Association recommends these:
Tips to make your New Year’s resolutions stick:
- Make resolutions you can reach. You don’t have to run a marathon in the first month. Tell yourself that you’re going to walk around the block every night for one week instead of just saying that you want to exercise more. Start out with manageable, measurable goals and increase them as you get better.
- Don’t try to change all your unhealthy behaviors at once. Choose one behavior to work on. Make positive steps in eating healthy or exercising. You didn’t get this way overnight. You can’t just snap your fingers and expect to be the perfect person the next day.
- Find support for reaching your goals. If you’re trying to stop smoking, find a friend or family member you can talk to about the challenges. Share successes and struggles without judgment or accusations.
- Don’t beat yourself up when you make a misstep. Recover from mistakes and move forward. You’re going to have ups and downs. Ask yourself what you would tell a friend who made a mistake. Treat yourself gently when you do.
- Ask for help. If you find yourself overwhelmed and unable to meet goals, it might be time to get professional help. A therapist or counselor can offer strategies to help you find ways to meet your goals and change your unhealthy behavior.
Break your goals down into manageable packets. You can’t run 26K if you’ve never run 5K. You’re not going to lose 50 pounds in the first few weeks. Set shorter and smaller goals, for example, “I’m going to run 6K four nights a week for two weeks, then increase by 1K every week until I’m up to 10K.” Once you get to 10K, examine what you’re doing and how it fits into your life and schedule. If you’re having knee pain, maybe you need to have it checked out and get physical therapy to increase your muscle strength before you go forward. Maybe you’re having a hard time fitting running into your schedule because baseball season just started and you’re taking your kids to practice and games. You may need to adjust your goals to fit into your current lifestyle, which is okay. It’s better to keep making positive changes in your life than to simply give up because things got complicated.
The New Year should be a time to reflect on your past and to make changes in your life to be the person you want to be. Just remember, the point isn’t to make a bunch of resolutions that look good on paper. The point is to actually take steps to be that person.