New Year's resolution
Every year, millions of people take the opportunity to use the dawn of a new year as a fresh start. Goals are set, and targets are aimed, but we all know that's the 'easy' part. The execution is easier said than done.
Check out some of these widely quoted statistics from different studies:
· 92% of people don't follow through with their resolutions
· 80% of people give up on their resolutions by the second week in February
· 88% of those who set New Years's Resolution's fail, even though 52% were confident of success at the beginning.
· 25% of people ditch their goals in the first week.
Regardless of studies, we all must face the overwhelming conclusion that MOST people will fail.
Why is there such a massive failure rate? Why was there a resolution in the first place? Most of our resolutions are going to take hard work and dedication otherwise we would have accomplished them already. We would all love to enjoy the results without doing the work but wishing them true under a sky illuminated with fireworks won't do. To succeed there will be times that are tough, that will make us want to give up and quit. It's these times when we need to question the 'WHY' and "because it's 2019" is just not going to cut it.
Here are some questions to help you figure out your WHY
· Why do you want to achieve this goal?
· Why is it important to you?
· Why now?
· Why didn't it work when you tried it before?
· What's different now?
· What changes when you achieve the goal?
· Why is that important?
· What happens if you don't achieve your goal?
· What are the consequences?
Once we know WHY we can look at HOW. While its great to have an idea of the destination in mind, a lot of the time we become too fixated which leads to an all-or-nothing approach. For most people, too many changes or too big of a change doesn't work. It's easy to find a workout regime or diet that will get you ripped, but usually, it's so brutal you can't stick with it. The change is just unsustainable, and we can see this in the high failure rate of extreme diet and workout programs.
To quote Tony Robbins: "If you want to know the secret to happiness, I can give it to you in one word: progress."
Progress is small, sustainable changes. One small improvement weekly can compound 52 changes throughout a year. Success feeds success. But if you try to do all 52 changes at once, it's just overwhelming. Willpower is strained and motivation is being destroyed instead of being fed. Fall in love with the process, until the process becomes the 'why,' and the outcome becomes unimportant. Eventually, your identity changes and you'll be chipping away at the problem until by the end it looks like magic.
But of course, it's not magic. It's the hard work that that few are willing to take on until they understand why it matters.
David Nguyen
As a Certified Online Trainer and Precision Nutrition Coach, David is committed to helping busy professionals build healthy habits and changes that are the keys to success.