One of my favorite times of the year is the transition from one year to the next. By December 31st, all of the busy holiday shopping, traveling, and time with family has come to an end. Leading up to January 1st, I like to spend time thinking about all of the things that I accomplished in the previous year, the positive experiences I had with family and friends, and to put behind all of the things that did not go as I had hoped.
For many of us, the new year is an opportunity to look forward as well. We seek out goals of becoming a better version of ourselves. Clearly, I am not alone in this regard, as 44% of American adults stated that they were likely to make a resolution for the new year (according to NPR and The Marist Poll conducted in 2018). The most popular resolution is around exercising, with losing weight and eating better close behind.
However, those resolutions often don’t last long. While 12% of all gym membership sign-ups happen in January, 80% of those memberships are cancelled within the first five months of the year. Fast food consumption drops and gym attendance goes up, but by the second week in February, things are pretty much back to the way that they were before. Research around these statistics actually allow us to pinpoint the day when people fall off the wagon. (It’s the second Saturday in February, so for this year that’s 2/8/2020).
As a result, chances are that you have abandoned your resolutions by now (or will soon). However, that doesn’t mean that you have to wait until the next New Year to try again. If you fail today, you can start over tomorrow. Every day is an opportunity to begin again on your road to becoming a better you. When it comes to accomplishing goals, here are some tips that I find to be helpful – even if my initial attempts are unsuccessful.
Be Realistic
When starting something new, too many changes at once can be overwhelming. Making resolutions to get up early, exercise, eat better, be more patient, be more effective at work, and be a better parent all at the same time is A LOT to manage. While all of these are noble goals, you may want to break them down to smaller tasks that are more achievable. Additionally, try to only focus on two or three things at a time.
Develop Habits that Support Your Goals
According to Psychology Today, it takes 66 days, on average, to develop a new behavior to the point where it becomes automatic. So, if your goal is to get up earlier, you are going to need to do it consistently for 66 days before it becomes a habit – 66 days! That’s a long time! Last year, I wanted to do some things to have more energy during the day. The list of things I could do was long – just Google “how to boost energy” and you’ll find dozens of them. I decided to start by focusing on one new habit to develop, and then move on to the next thing. For two months, I focused on getting up as soon as my alarm went off, without hitting the snooze button. If you are a fan of snoozing to get a little more sleep, sorry, but science shows that hitting the snooze button just makes you more tired and groggy. While I was developing this new habit, I did have more energy! After a couple of months, getting up right after the alarm went off became automatic. With this accomplished, I could focus on the next habit to develop on my list.
Don’t be Defeated by Failure
Developing new habits can be challenging, so don’t beat yourself up if you fail. Even if you fail multiple times, the important thing is to keep at it until you are successful. When trying to make a big lifestyle change, or develop a new skill at work, you might fail at first because it’s new and you haven’t mastered it yet. Henry Ford once said, “Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely”. If you fail, try to learn from it and see if you can do something different to be successful next time -don’t just give up!
As much as I love ringing in the New Year with family, friends, and seeing the new year as an opportunity to do something different, I’ve learned that there are opportunities to begin again all year long. Every day can be the start of something new. You don’t have to wait until January 1 of 2021!
