“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans.”
Peter F. Drucker quotes (American Educator and Writer)
Tis the season of New Year’s resolutions. Many will be made, many will be broken, many will be abandoned or forgotten. That statement is bleak and discouraging but unfortunately very true… without determination and commitment. A quick internet search shows that over 90% of all New Year’s resolutions fail, most in the first 1-6 weeks. The major question that I would like to address is, why?
I don’t believe that resolutions fail because individuals lack sincerity or intention. I think that people generally prefer to live a better, happier and healthier life. So what stops us? It is the struggles within that prevent us from meeting or maintaining our goals.
Any habit will take at least 2 weeks to change. It literally takes that long to rewire your brain to make a new behavior seem “normal”. Habits that have existed longer will take simply take more time to rewire. A habit such as waking up earlier, will be an approximate 2 week transition… assuming that we are consistent. A long term smoking habit will take much longer because the physiologic make up of our nervous system has grown to expect high levels of nicotine. Nicotine receptors by the way are found throughout the body which is why withdrawal can be so physically taxing. We need to be persistent so that our bodies have the time to adapt to the new environment or situation that we are exposing it to.
The second aspect to achieving success with New Year’s resolutions is that we need to be patient, understanding and forgiving… WITH OURSELVES!!! It is way too easy to “fall off the wagon” with a major lifestyle change. Unless you have a Gandhi-esc ability to deprive yourself of something that makes you comfortable, your resolution will be a battle. Perhaps it is more appropriate to consider the struggle as a war, with some battles won and others lost. If you are truly committed to change, it is important to get back up and begin again. By sincerely forgiving ourselves, we can start fresh and move on until the struggles become less and less; easier and easier. On the flipside, be disciplined enough to begin again immediately. Make an excuse to do something, rather than not. You may still snack on cookies over the holidays on special occasions which may tip the scale a bit, however, making the choice to forgive yourself and start anew will prevent you from buying the bag of cookies the next time you go grocery shopping. If you don’t dwell on the fact that you ate some cookies when you were trying to give them up you can move on and your ultimate goal of losing weight or eating healthier will have been achieved by year’s end.
In summary, the ultimate ability to succeed with New Year’s resolutions requires patience, forgiveness and understanding just as much as discipline, commitment and perseverance. Balance your thoughts, balance your habits and you can achieve your goals.
Good Luck!