If you have made a resolution in the past, like approximately 44 percent of Americans have, chances are you also had the experience of failing to keep it.
One of the most popular resolutions for many of us centers around weight or diet. Losing weight or eating healthier seem to be somewhere near the top for many of us and can also be the most intimidating goals to reach.
This year instead of saying you are going to 'lose weight', focus on what you are going to add to your life. You can make a commitment to increase the number of vegetables you eat every day. Get focused on what you are going to eat more of, rather than what you are taking away. Bonus: small goals like getting more sleep or eating more vegetables can also be easily tracked.
The fitness app Strava claims to have pinpointed the day in mid-January, nicknamed "Quitter's Day," when people are most likely to slacken their effort to exercise more. This study emphasizes the importance of remaining flexible in pursuit of your goal.
According to Atomic Habits by James Clear, you can build habits by following the four laws of habit change and using other techniques:
Start INCREDIBLY Small: Make your new habit one that is easy enough that you don’t need motivation to do it. Rather than starting with fifty pushups per day, start with five per day. Rather than trying to meditate for ten minutes per day, start by meditating for one minute per day. Make it easy enough that you can get it done without motivation.
Increase In Small Increments: One percent improvement adds up surprisingly fast. So do one percent declines. Rather than trying to do something amazing from the beginning, start small and gradually improve. Along the way, your willpower and motivation will increase, which will make it easier to stick to your habit for good.
As You Build Up, Break the Habit into Chunks: If you continue adding one percent each day, then you’ll find yourself increasing very quickly within two or three months. It is important to keep each habit reasonable, so that you can maintain momentum and make the behavior as easy as possible to accomplish. Building up to twenty minutes of meditation? Split it into two segments of ten minutes at first. Trying to do fifty sit-ups per day? Five sets of ten might be much easier as you make your way there.
When You Slip Up, Get Back on Track Quickly: Top performers make mistakes, commit errors, and get off track just like everyone else. The difference is that they get back on track as quickly as possible. Research has shown that missing your habit once, no matter when it occurs, has no measurable impact on your long-term progress. Rather than trying to be perfect, abandon your all-or-nothing mentality. You shouldn’t expect to fail, but you should plan for failure. Take some time to consider what will prevent your habit from happening. What are some things that are likely to get in your way? What are some daily emergencies that are likely to pull you off course? How can you plan to work around these issues? Or, at least, how can you bounce back quickly from them and get back on track?
Be Patient - Stick to a Pace You Can Sustain: Learning to be patient is the most critical skill of all. You can make incredible progress if you are consistent and patient. If you are adding weight in the gym, you should go slower than you think. Patience is everything. New habits should feel easy, especially in the beginning. If you stay consistent and continue increasing your habit it will get hard enough, fast enough. It always does.
Remember that any behavioral change journey is not linear; and everyone's path will be different. Anything that disrupts your routine can interfere with progress toward a goal. In some cases, those are unexpected negative events like a serious health condition or being thrust into a caregiver role. But even exciting, positive things, like traveling, moving, or having your child join a new sports team, can potentially disrupt your momentum, too.
You should be flexible, it's crucial to avoid "black-and-white" or all-or-nothing thinking. Imagine your goal is to exercise for an hour daily, however, you miss a few days because of a hectic work schedule and family obligations. It's tempting to think, 'I'll begin anew at the gym next week,' but then end up doing nothing in the meantime.
At times where you have deviated from your short-term goals, it's important to refocus on what you can do right now to continue moving forward. When you are at your child's sports event, you can get up and do a lap around the field or some bodyweight exercises instead of sitting. That's what's exciting about wellness: We can always—at any given moment and amidst whatever is transpiring in our lives—explore new ways to flourish.
We hope you are already having a Wonderful 2025!!
Sources: HealthyWomen.org,
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