Human beings are funny creatures. We make a big deal about forthcoming events, anticipate a bright future and somewhere along the line, forget about all that we promised ourselves as the year progresses.
Sadly the tradition of making New Year’s resolutions becomes a victim to the same process. We celebrate New Year’s Eve the best we can, bid adieu to the year that has passed, and vow to make the coming year better for us and those around us.
Some of us make long sweeping declarations to never drink again, or to quit smoking, or to lose a hundred pounds to get a date on Valentine’s Day. Regardless of the resolution, many of us who have made these declarations find ourselves sheepishly sparking a cigarette while standing in the cold under our office buildings because it has a no smoking indoors policy, or gorging ourselves in bed on that big packet of Hershey bars we got from our Aunt’s over Christmas holiday.
Surprising as it may seem, this doesn’t have a lot to do with weak willpower.Keeping resolutions have more to do with the types of goals you set and how attainable they are. There is a simple way of making sure that your goals are reasonable. Just make sure that they are all SMART.
SMART is an acronym that symbolizes effective goal accomplishment. All it requires is for you to ask yourself a few basic questions before you decide upon a goal. These questions according to the formula are:-
- Is your goal Specific?
- Is your goal Measurable?
- Is your goal Attainable?
- Is your goal Realistic?
- Is your goal Time-bound?
By asking yourself these questions, you are really letting yourself know the possibility of your New Year’s resolutions of actually holding up throughout the year.
As soon as you have established your goals, there is also a part where you have to make sure that you actually carry them through. You can do this in the few ways I have mentioned below.
We live in the age of technology. When social media websites are so prevalent in our lives, why not utilize them as a tool to help us keep our New Year’s resolutions?
Why don’t you try to do this this New Year’s eve? Create a Facebook page declaring your resolutions. Get all your friends to join and participate. You can then put up posts about your progress which they can ‘like’ and comment on. Your friends can also provide you with the motivation you would know to stick to your goal. The more involved you are, the more likely you are to stick to your resolution.
Reward yourself! Psychology has shown that humans and animals respond particularly well to classical conditioning. In fact that is what our whole justice system is based on! Keeping that in mind, give yourself little rewards when you succeed in achieving a small part of your resolution. This doesn’t mean you reward yourself with an entire box of chocolates if you are on a diet.
You can reward yourself by celebrating the small progress you have made; go out dancing with a friend, watch a movie, or simply take a break from work and get a facial at the spa. You don’t have to go all out, just enough to let yourself know that you deserve good things in return for your good behavior.
If your resolution is to break a bad habit, try going cold turkey in the initial days. Admittedly, this is a hard thing to do, but it can give you a preview of what your life can be like sans the bad habit. Of course this doesn’t apply in terms of substance abuse (you’d be putting yourself in extreme danger) but for habits like nail biting, try taking preventive measures on your cold turkey days. This can include wearing mittens 24/7, or putting on some anti-nail biting potion which makes your nails taste disgusting and is available at any drugstore.
Lastly, it is important not to beat yourself up if you fall of the wagon. So what if of devil’s food cake (aptly named chocolate dessert)? You can always pick yourself up, brush it off, and return to your diet/exercise regime more determined than ever to work off those calories that you ingested in a moment of weakness!
Sticking to these tips will make following through on your New Year’s resolutions a loteasier and will definitely make for a Happy New Year!
References:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gretchen-rubin/12-ways-to-stick-to-your_b_150885.html
http://www.refinery29.com/nyc-2011-new-years-resolutions
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703581204576033824100634278.html
