Snacks #014: New Year's Resolutions

While we reflect on our achievements from 2023 and simultaneously look ahead to the year that 2024 promises to be, it's common practice to set goals and

New Year's RESOLUTIONS... 

I think we can learn some lessons from last year:

• 37% of survey participants planned on making new years resolutions for 2023.
• The most popular resolutions for 2023 were:

1. improving physical heath (20%)
2. saving more money (20%)
3. exercising more (19%)
4. eating healthier (18%)
5. being happy (17%)
6. losing weight (17%)

• 87% were confident that they would stick to their resolutions, but by February only 22% had stuck to them entirely. 

At the end of the year, only 9% had succeeded.

 What's with the high fail rate? 

Let's take a snapshot of five things that could trip you up with their solutions to help you mitigate failure:

Problem #1: Over-reaching/ setting unrealistic goals: 

• tripling your income
• achieving 20kg weight loss (even though you don’t have 20kg to lose)
• running a marathon (even though you hate cardio)
• improving every single one of your sleep, hydration and lifestyle habits

Better yet, choosing all of these goals at the same time... 

Solution: only pick one thing to focus on and make it realistic

Problem #2: black and white thinking: 

For example, setting goals that have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ outcome that you intend to do daily

• getting 10,000 steps every single day. 
• sleeping 8 hours every night
• doing 7 exercise sessions a week

If you’ve missed one day, you’ve failed your resolution 

Solution: build in flexibility or utilise stretch goals (setting both a minimum goal and an optimal goal)

Problem #3: lack of support: 

DIY-ing is great for arts and crafts, but not when it comes to *literally anything else*.

There’s a reason why people pay for accountants, builders, mechanics and coaches instead of guessing.

It fast-tracks the result, saves time and saves mistakes by outsourcing to professionals.

Solution: Outsource to fast-track the result, save time, get support and accountability with your goals

Problem #4: not aligning with your goal; 

You might have set a goal because it sounded cool, or other people were doing it - but deep down you don’t really care because it doesn’t align with your values.

For example, you might think you want to lose weight, but once you look for the values, you might realise you just want to improve your confidence. One way to do this is to follow a training plan consistently and challenge yourself.

Solution: Set goals that align with what you really want and make sure it resonates with your values

Problem #5: setting the bar too low: 

This goes against the logic you’ve been taught of ‘setting ”small, achievable goals”; but setting the bar too low encourages complacency.

Think about being told you have 12 weeks to lose 1 kilo, versus 2 weeks to lose 1 kilo. 

In which scenario are you more likely to stick to your plan?

Solution: set goals that are within reach, but aren’t so easy that you don’t have to change anything.

The takeaway?

Resolutions and goals set at pivotal moments can be fantastic tools to trigger change.

Set your goals wisely, seek support and put a solid plan in action to achieve them.