By: Maile Benumof | Writer
Every year without failure millions of Americans make goals, or New Year’s Resolutions, proclaiming how they’re going to be “better” this year. And again, without failure, millions of those Americans forget their goals no less than a month later. Here’s a few reasons why it may be hard to stick to those infamous goals for the New Year, and ways to change your goal to make it more attainable.
One reason you might not be making progress on your New Year’s Resolution is because the goal that you set is too broad. All encompassing goals like “becoming more fit,” “eating better,” or “be happier” are super broad and provide no path towards being successful in achieving that goal. In order to make your goal less broad, try making it measurable. For example, if your goal is to lose a few pounds in the coming year, set specific work out goals instead. Try “I’m gonna run for 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes today,” or creating workouts for yourself so that when you get to the gym you have a plan and a goal to reach instead of aimlessly walking around from one piece of equipment to another.
“My resolution for 2020 is to eat healthier and it’s been kind of hard, but I’ve made it easier by coming up with my own recipes and planning out the foods that I want to make,” San Clemente High School senior Delaney Miller said.
Another way to help encourage your long term success with the goals you make is to measure your success. If you track your own progress that can help keep you motivated to stick to your goal. One of the major reasons that so many people find it so difficult to accomplish their resolutions is because they set very lofty goals with no plan of how to get there. If you can set your goal, mark checkpoints along the way, and design a clear, measurable path designed to help you get there, then the success rate significantly increases.
“When I track the amount of times that I run each week and time myself too, it’s really satisfying to see my improvement,” senior Alexi Dragotto said.
The biggest, and most surprising, inhibitor of many New Year’s Resolutions is actually your own mind. If your goal is to lose a few pounds and you’re absolutely dreading eating that cold salad instead of a warm bowl of pasta then you’re already setting yourself up to fail. The beginning of every goal and plan of action starts in your own mind with a positive outlook and committed language (saying “I will” instead of “I should”), can be the greatest asset to many people struggling with their goals. The internal battle between what you should do and what you want to do is the only thing holding many people back from achieving even their most extravagant resolutions.
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