It is that time of year again… the time for change, new dreams, new goals, and for some, a new life. January may have just passed, but it is still prime time for New Year’s resolution. By this point, you are either just starting to get the hang of your new routine, goal, or habit or you have just lost sight of it. Either way, this article might shed some light on if New Year’s resolutions actually work or not and how to maybe make them work out for you.
Different types of popular New Year’s resolutions might include going on a diet, trying to get fit, training for an event, writing a book/song/etc., trying to start a “that girl” routine, and the list goes on. But, the question is… are these achievable? And why do so many people fail their resolutions?
New Year’s resolutions can work for you, you just have to know how to do them. Many people will set unachievable goals or hold themselves to too high of standards that set them up for failure. For instance, you might have set yourself a New Year’s resolution of running five miles a day for six days a week, but you have never run in your life and have zero experience in it. That is just super unachievable. So, how do we make this more achievable?
First, we start to create a habit. A habit takes about two weeks to form, those first two weeks are brutal, but after that, you have enough of a structure built that you are very likely to keep the habit. So, if you want to set a goal of running six days a week you should start by just getting yourself to show up at the location for six days a week for two weeks and running what feels good. Maybe you just start with a half mile or just ten minutes, if you are feeling really ambitious maybe even a whole mile, but the first two weeks are less about doing a ton and more about just showing up. After you have run your, let’s say, half a mile for six days a week for two weeks, then it’s time to amp it up a bit. Maybe you go from a half mile to a mile for two weeks then from a mile to a mile and a half for two weeks and so on until you reach your goal of five miles.
This slow progression and habit-building will set you up for success in the long run and keep you from burning out. If you just start at the five-mile point you will burn out quickly and may give up. There is one major problem to this habit-building though and that is consistency or rather the dangerous slope it can be.
Many people, especially in the wellness community, will tell you that consistency is key, and well… it is, but it can also be very dangerous to commit too much to this mentality. I know that probably doesn’t make sense, but let me explain. Sometimes when building new habits life gets in the way, but some of us ignore it because we really want to build this new habit which can lead to issues. For instance, you’re trying to build a new fitness habit and in your first week, you get injured and need to take a few days off. Well… your brain may be telling you that consistency is key and to keep pushing and pushing until you collapse and now instead of a week off you have to take two months off because you pushed yourself too far.
Another thing that could happen is maybe you are trying to implement a new routine, but it is too time-consuming and being hard on your mental health, but you really want to have this new routine for the aesthetic so you keep going and end up having to give it up because it was just too mentally taxing.
Figuring out when to stop or take time off can be very hard, but there are ways to help in your decision-making. First ask yourself: if I take time off now will it help me to not have to take off more time later? Sometimes just taking the L now is better than having to take it for months on end. If I don’t take time off is it going to affect me so bad mentally that I am going to be worse off for it? If not taking time off today is going to give you a bad mental health day or cause you distress it may just be the right thing to take time off. Is the reason I’m taking the day off of my habit because there is some dangerous obstacle? Maybe you are trying to go to the gym more, but the roads are covered in ice and driving could be very risky and lead to a car accident. It’s probably a good day to take the day off.
Taking time off can be very hard because it can feel defeating especially when you are just starting to try to make a life change or habit and although consistency is key it is important to check in with yourself and make sure you are doing what is best for you. Hopefully, some of these tips will help you to keep your new year’s resolution this year in a safe and sustainable way!