Top 3 New Year's Resolutions (and why they fail)
Who hasn’t made a new year’s resolution? We have all made goals to do this or that with our lives and we tally-ho into January with the best of intentions. Then, somewhere in mid-February, we start revert back to our old ways. By March, everything has been all but forgotten.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are the three top new year’s resolutions and why they fail (and what you can do about it):
I’m going to get healthy
This has got to be one of the most popular resolutions people make every year. You might want to get healthy but unless you get more specific, it’s going to be hard to achieve. Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to get more toned and fit? Do you hope to improve your nutrition?
Whatever the case, you have to know what you want before you can get it. Instead of a setting a goal to “lose weight”, decide to start spending 60 minutes at the gym three times a week.
It’s also important to build up to ambitious goals like running a marathon. Start with smaller goals like running a kilometer every day for the first week and increase the distance. incrementally over time.
I’m going to get out of debt
One of the top New Year’s resolutions is getting out of debt. There are few resolutions out there that can create such high hopes but take us to such depressing depths. Unless you have a detailed plan for how you intend to accomplish your goals, nothing will get done.
For instance, a goal like “I will follow a monthly budget for the next year” may save you $200 a month that you can put towards your debt. You can also create other resolutions that target different parts of your finances to achieve the same goal.
You can create a goal that will cut down on services, like “I will reduce my auto and home insurance costs by $20 a month each”. You know what you want, so start by doing some comparison shopping to get the best rates and go from there. The extra money can go towards your debt and you can feel good progress.
I’m going to be a better person
Despite being the third most common resolution, according to Statista, most people don’t know how to quantify this beyond the general idea of wanting to be “better”.
The beauty of this resolution is that it’s highly individual and can be tailored to any taste and preference. Instead of saying you want to be a “better” person, you can take a little bit of time to determine what it means to be a better person.
Maybe you want to set aside some time to volunteer for your favourite charity. You can reword your resolution to be “I will volunteer three hours a week at the Boys and Girls Club and work with kids”.
If you want to be commit yourself to your spirituality, you could design your resolution to reflect that: “I will commit to attending church three times a month”. This gives you something to work towards while being realistic about you can actually achieve.
Whether you set one of these top New Year’s resolutions, or choose something else to focus on, now is a good time to reflect on what you want from life, and make a plan to work toward it.
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