Why Do New Year Resolutions Fail?
Why Do New Year Resolutions Fail?
Instead of Making Promises, Try and Replace Bad Habits with Good Ones
Every time January 1st hits, so do resolutions. I am amazed at the number of quick fixes, diets and new fitness equipment that fills every available commercial spot year after year. Fitness equipment is now so amazing that all you need is 14 minutes a session and you will lose fat and get ripped. Interestingly enough, the person portraying the wanna-be-athlete is typically already ripped and super good looking. I have known too many folks who have bought into this fantasy, only to be sadly disappointed by the actual amount of work that needs to go into getting their fitness and health back on track. So disappointed, they quit altogether.
New Year’s resolutions have a sense of déjà vu. They seem to be the same as any other year. We make promises to ourselves about how we are going to change. Sadly, studies have shown that 60 percent of people had given up after six months and who knows how many of the remaining 40 percent secretly gave up but didn’t want to admit it.
One of the main reasons New Year’s resolutions are so hard to change is that we come up against rock hard habits. Typical targets for resolutions like healthy eating, quitting smoking and taking up exercise are very difficult habits to alter because these patterns of behavior have been built up over many years.
Instead, it’s much better to try and replace the bad habit with a better one. Rather than suppressing a snacking habit, for example, it’s better to make the snack food healthier - switch from candy to apples. If you find yourself slipping, here’s a tip for quickly boosting self-control: Try thinking about your core values, something you really care about. It could be your partner, your family or a higher ideal. Studies have found this can help boost your self-control in a moment of weakness.
Finally, one of the most important messages emerging from the research is that breaking old habits is hard. The temptation is to bite off more than you can chew, but baby steps are likely to work better. Try to start with minor bad habits, or only part of your bad habit. For example, it may not be possible to tackle unhealthy eating all in one go, but you can at least change what you habitually eat for breakfast. With this change under your belt, you can layer another good habit on top, and then another.
For big changes, think small.
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Kim Duke is a certified personal trainer and owner of Core Performance Fitness and Training, located at 55 Bristol Lane, Ellicottville, NY. Kim resides in Ellicottville where she raised her two sons, Zach and Nik. For more information about her studio visit her Facebook page, go to www.coreperformancefitness.com or call her directly at 716-698-1198.
