Print this page
Wednesday, 01 January 2014 16:59

New Year Resolutions Featured

Written by
Rate this item
(0 votes)

I want to wish you a very Happy New Year and wish this year will bring all your dreams and goals into fruition. Life is amazing and this time of the year is the most crowded period I have ever observed where everyone is on the move with lots of people motivated to make that dream come

true. I just went online to register for my Thursday aero biking class and I was not too surprised to find out that I have no space as it is fully booked. This is as a result of people who made New Year resolutions. They are running with it now but by February most of them fall on the way side and dump their New Year resolution. Some don't even remember where they left it. Everyone has a mental list of habits they would like to change, and the New Year seems like a perfect time to start. "New Year, new you" is a phrase you will see repeated in print. Long ago I have decided that my New Year is my birthday and really I don't make any resolution. I build a life on character and that is what matters most to me.

You know that I love statistics so here we go. The statistics are bleak: only 8% of people who make New Year's resolutions stick to them, and those who don't usually abandon them after just one week. Over the years making New Year resolution has become a ritual. It is part of the ceremony that graces the festive season. People want to give up on many bad habits so they pledge their commitment in giving up which is not a bad idea. It is an annual attempt to start afresh and turn over a new leaf. But making resolutions is a near pointless exercise, psychologists say. We break them, become dispirited in the process and finally more despondent than we were before.

Richard Wiseman, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, who led the analysis, said he and his team had asked 700 people about their strategies for achieving New Year resolutions. Their goals ranged from losing weight or giving up smoking to gaining a qualification or starting a better relationship. Of the 78% who failed, many had focused on the downside of not achieving the goals; they had suppressed their cravings, fantasised about being successful, and adopted a role model or relied on willpower alone.

We began 2014 with the best of intentions, vowing to ditch our bad habits for good. Ten days later the last traces of willpower will begin to be fading away. After ten days most people will give up their New Year's resolutions - just nine days after they were made. Three-quarters of 3,000 British adults surveyed after January 10 in 2012 admitted they were no longer confident they would stick to their promises for the rest of the month. The most popular resolutions this year related to physical and emotional wellbeing, with seven out of ten joining a gym or going jogging in two weeks. Six out of ten said they were trying to eat more healthily or lose weight. Now you can see why I am unable to book my aero biking class for Thursday, it falls within the ten days active period.

Optimism, then, isn't always constructive. If we're too positive, we condemn ourselves to fail. Many backsliders relapse because they have overestimated their own abilities, underestimated the time and effort involved in staying the course, or have an exaggerated view of the effect that the change would have on their lives. We underestimate these fluctuations in self-control and motivation. Naturally, if you set more realistic goals, you are more likely to succeed. People with more modest expectations were far likelier to complete a twelve-week-long exercise course. And once we've set goals, we're most likely to reach them by creating a firm plan. The theory of implementation intentions maintains that we have a better chance of sticking to a goal if we think about contingencies in advance and devise a direct, automatic response to each of them. It's harder to break a specific commitment then a nonspecific one.

Why do we fail in accomplishing our New Year's Resolutions? I believe it is because we set out unrealistic goals which will ultimately fail. We refuse to look at the factors against our effort to accomplish these goals and find ways in dealing with these factors. We think because we have made that resolution it then has the power to succeed. We forget that our habits and character is a major factor in ensuring we either fail or succeed. The main issue here is not about the resolution but about our habits and characters. By and large, a New Year's resolution is a promise to start a good habit or to kick a bad one on the first day of the year. I don't need New Year to do this; I do it all year round so it becomes my natural habit. With this it is a lifestyle so there will be no need for New Year's resolution. What you need is to create the habit of setting goals and sticking to them all year round so it becomes your lifestyle. With this the struggle is for a long time until you become a master.

In setting goals you have to break them in bits so they are not unrealistic to achieve. The journey for a thousand miles starts with a step. You need to take that tiny step. Goal-setting is more than making a wish and hoping it will come true. It's proven to be effective for making real changes in life. To set and achieve your goal, research shows it helps to follow this process.

  1. Recognize what you need to change.
  2. Establish a goal.
  3. Begin a goal-directed activity.
  4. Track your progress
  5. Reward yourself.

Sounds simple, right? So why do January's good intentions often end up discarded by March? Many goals start out being too difficult and too general. That's a set up for failure. You need to be specific in your goal setting. Choose a precise, positive goal for a short period of time. Make it challenging enough to motivate you, without being beyond your capabilities. Make 2014 rewarding and stop making the same mistake every January. Insanity is doing things the same way but expecting a different result. I wish you the best for 2014 and once again Happy New Year.

Jefferson O Imgbi

14893 comments

  • Comment Link kevin durant shoes Thursday, 28 July 2022 13:29 posted by kevin durant shoes

    Thanks a lot for providing individuals with remarkably spectacular opportunity to read articles and blog posts from this web site. It really is so superb and also jam-packed with a good time for me and my office colleagues to search your blog at the least 3 times in a week to see the latest things you have got. And of course, we're always pleased considering the splendid hints you give. Selected 1 points in this posting are completely the finest we have all had.

  • Comment Link bape hoodie Thursday, 28 July 2022 13:29 posted by bape hoodie

    I and also my guys came studying the good ideas from your web page and so then came up with an awful suspicion I had not expressed respect to the blog owner for those techniques. Those ladies are actually as a result thrilled to read through them and have undoubtedly been taking pleasure in those things. Thank you for simply being so thoughtful and then for having variety of extraordinary themes millions of individuals are really desirous to learn about. My honest apologies for not saying thanks to you earlier.

  • Comment Link chrome hearts online store Thursday, 28 July 2022 13:29 posted by chrome hearts online store

    Thanks a lot for providing individuals with an extraordinarily memorable possiblity to read in detail from this site. It is often very excellent and also stuffed with a lot of fun for me and my office peers to search your site at the very least three times a week to see the fresh stuff you will have. Not to mention, I am just certainly happy with your great tips and hints you give. Selected 4 tips in this posting are easily the finest we've had.

  • Comment Link yeezy shoes Thursday, 28 July 2022 13:29 posted by yeezy shoes

    I wish to get across my gratitude for your generosity giving support to persons who really need help with this question. Your special dedication to passing the message along appeared to be rather significant and have in every case allowed some individuals just like me to realize their endeavors. Your own useful suggestions entails a lot a person like me and especially to my mates. Thanks a lot; from each one of us.

  • Comment Link yeezy boost 350 Wednesday, 27 July 2022 08:48 posted by yeezy boost 350

    I have to voice my respect for your kind-heartedness supporting those people who really need help on this topic. Your special commitment to getting the solution throughout came to be extremely helpful and has truly made men and women like me to realize their desired goals. Your entire insightful report means a great deal to me and additionally to my colleagues. Warm regards; from everyone of us.

  • Comment Link cheap curry 7 Wednesday, 27 July 2022 03:24 posted by cheap curry 7

    I truly wanted to type a brief comment to be able to say thanks to you for the splendid tactics you are posting at this website. My time consuming internet look up has at the end of the day been paid with good quality tips to talk about with my family and friends. I 'd express that most of us readers are really lucky to exist in a useful site with very many perfect individuals with interesting tricks. I feel truly fortunate to have seen your web page and look forward to so many more fun moments reading here. Thank you once again for all the details.

  • Comment Link kyrie shoes Monday, 25 July 2022 23:10 posted by kyrie shoes

    Thank you for every one of your labor on this web site. My daughter enjoys participating in internet research and it's easy to understand why. A number of us notice all regarding the lively way you make both useful and interesting tips and hints by means of this web blog and as well as boost participation from other ones on this area and our favorite daughter is certainly discovering a lot. Enjoy the remaining portion of the year. You have been carrying out a useful job.

  • Comment Link kd 12 shoes Monday, 25 July 2022 19:34 posted by kd 12 shoes

    I simply wanted to appreciate you all over again. I am not sure what I would have accomplished in the absence of those secrets contributed by you regarding this industry. It absolutely was a real terrifying problem in my circumstances, however , considering this expert approach you handled it took me to weep with delight. I'm happier for your guidance and thus trust you really know what an amazing job that you are doing training the mediocre ones thru your website. I know that you've never met all of us.

  • Comment Link jordan 12 Sunday, 24 July 2022 12:33 posted by jordan 12

    I'm also commenting to let you be aware of what a amazing encounter my friend's child enjoyed visiting the blog. She learned a wide variety of things, with the inclusion of what it is like to have an amazing coaching character to have others without difficulty know just exactly some extremely tough matters. You undoubtedly exceeded our expected results. Many thanks for rendering such warm and helpful, trustworthy, educational not to mention fun guidance on that topic to Sandra.

  • Comment Link air jordan shoes Sunday, 24 July 2022 06:56 posted by air jordan shoes

    I am glad for commenting to make you know what a superb experience my friend's child gained viewing yuor web blog. She mastered a wide variety of issues, most notably what it's like to possess a very effective teaching heart to have the others with no trouble master certain extremely tough topics. You truly did more than readers' desires. Many thanks for rendering those necessary, dependable, edifying and in addition easy guidance on that topic to Julie.