It’s January 1st, a new year and a new chance to start living the life you’ve always wanted. Ambitions are high, and you just know that this time you’re going to stick with your New Year’s Resolutions.
But time passes, and the desire slowly fades. You start cheating a little on that new diet, or you don’t get up at dawn and go on that run you said you would.
Sound familiar? It happens to all of us, and the real question is, why? Why can’t we stick with our plans, and is there anything we can do to fix it?
While we can’t give you a sure-fire way to get you to all of your goals immediately, we can give you the help you need to set attainable goals that you can stick with throughout the new year and beyond.
The Importance of Setting Goals
Take a step back and tell yourself what you want to achieve with your New Year’s Resolution. Is it lose weight, get a promotion, exercise more, start a new hobby? That’s great, we all should have areas in our lives that we want to improve upon or new challenges to tackle.
After finding out what you want to change, what’s next? That’s the hardest part. It’s easy to come up with a general idea of what we want to do, but without a specific goal, you’re doomed to failure. Instead of saying ‘I want to exercise more,’ set a goal of running one mile, 3 times a week. If losing weight is your goal, set a goal for how much you want to lose over a certain time period.
Not having achievable goals is a recipe for failure when it
comes to making life changes. Without being able to gauge progress, you can’t
truly determine if you are working towards achieving what you set out to do.
And at that point, kiss your New Year’s Resolution goodbye. Frustration sets
in, and that leads to apathy. There is no turning back from that point.
You may be saying to yourself ‘I set goals in the past, and
still didn’t get to where I wanted.’ That leads to our next point.
Gamefying your Goals
Imagine you are at the dentist’s office, and you’re in the waiting room. On the table there is a book of math problems. Would you pick it up and starting solving for ‘X?’ Now think about the same scenario, but there is a sudoku book, or a book of crossword puzzles Would you pick up one of those?
Most people are much more likely to pick up the puzzle book
instead of tackling math problems. Why is that? They both involve using logic
to solve complex number and word problems. Why is one more enjoyable than the
other, and why are much more likely to pick up one than the other?
The simple answer is, we like games. Research shows that we are much more likely to stick to repetitive, difficult tasks if they are in the form of a game. That’s why setting specific goals is so important for keeping your New Year’s Resolution.
When you have a specific goal and frame it as a game, it
becomes a challenge we can beat, instead of a mundane task we have to do. When
you fail at a game, you look at what caused you to fail, what the solution is,
and try it again.
Turning our New Year’s Resolutions into games increases the
odds of success significantly. This involves you creating a narrative that fits
in with your goals. From the example before, if you want to exercise more, set
a goal of running 3 times a week. Then turn that into a game. First, try to go
1 week with running three times a week. If you succeed, great. Try to set a new
goal of running three times a week for two weeks in a row.
If you fail, ask yourself why you failed. Was it that you
couldn’t find time that week? It was too cold outside? Then, look for a
solution to these problems and try again. Set a specific time in your schedule
to run, or run inside on the treadmill. Then start over again, and set the
goals for the game.
When we set measurable goals, we have a benchmark for
determining success. Then treating those goals as a game allows us to learn
from our failures, and find ways to achieve success.
But what if there is no way we can achieve the goals we set?
Doesn’t that lead to frustration and failure? That’s where the importance of
setting attainable goals comes in.
Create goals you can achieve, but aren’t too easy
Here’s your fitness goal for the year: set the world record
marathon time. Sound a little too hard? Ok, how about blinking quickly two
times a day. A little too easy?
Neither of those are great goals when it comes to your New Year’s Resolution. If you’re goal is unreachable, you will have no interest in sticking with it. And if your goal is too simple, you really aren’t improving in a meaningful way.
To make your goals interesting, and worth pursuing, they
have to be attainable yet challenging. Starting out, you probably have a good
idea of what is reasonable for yourself. But if not, turning them into a game
will help you figure out pretty quickly if you need to adjust them.
If you get started on a goal and realize it’s impossible,
adjust accordingly. Alternatively, if you hit your year long goal in the first
week, you know you need to make some changes. Either way, to make the changes
you are looking for, you need to set difficult, but attainable goals.
You can Reach Your Goals this New Year
If you’re like most people, you probably have given up on
the idea of a New Year’s Resolution. And who can blame you? They’re hard to
follow, and making changes is hard. But (and this applies to not only New
Year’s Resolutions, but any life goals), if you set attainable goals, and turn
them into a challenging, yet fun game, you can realize the results you are
looking for this year.
Looking for Help Reaching your Health Goals?
NeoVitin is here to help you with your health goals. Dr. Rybicki formulated NeoVitin when he was training for his first half-marathon at 50. He wanted energy support, immune support, and help with his overall well-being, so he could reach his goals. NeoVitin is affordable, easy to take, and will support you in your journey to reach your goals. Learn more about NeoVitin and how it can be your partner in reaching your goals.
Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work, and How to Fix It
It’s January 1st, a new year and a new chance to start living the life you’ve always wanted. Ambitions are high, and you just know that this time you’re going to stick with your New Year’s Resolutions.
But time passes, and the desire slowly fades. You start cheating a little on that new diet, or you don’t get up at dawn and go on that run you said you would.
Sound familiar? It happens to all of us, and the real question is, why? Why can’t we stick with our plans, and is there anything we can do to fix it?
While we can’t give you a sure-fire way to get you to all of your goals immediately, we can give you the help you need to set attainable goals that you can stick with throughout the new year and beyond.
The Importance of Setting Goals
Take a step back and tell yourself what you want to achieve with your New Year’s Resolution. Is it lose weight, get a promotion, exercise more, start a new hobby? That’s great, we all should have areas in our lives that we want to improve upon or new challenges to tackle.
After finding out what you want to change, what’s next? That’s the hardest part. It’s easy to come up with a general idea of what we want to do, but without a specific goal, you’re doomed to failure. Instead of saying ‘I want to exercise more,’ set a goal of running one mile, 3 times a week. If losing weight is your goal, set a goal for how much you want to lose over a certain time period.
Not having achievable goals is a recipe for failure when it comes to making life changes. Without being able to gauge progress, you can’t truly determine if you are working towards achieving what you set out to do. And at that point, kiss your New Year’s Resolution goodbye. Frustration sets in, and that leads to apathy. There is no turning back from that point.
You may be saying to yourself ‘I set goals in the past, and still didn’t get to where I wanted.’ That leads to our next point.
Gamefying your Goals
Imagine you are at the dentist’s office, and you’re in the waiting room. On the table there is a book of math problems. Would you pick it up and starting solving for ‘X?’ Now think about the same scenario, but there is a sudoku book, or a book of crossword puzzles Would you pick up one of those?
Most people are much more likely to pick up the puzzle book instead of tackling math problems. Why is that? They both involve using logic to solve complex number and word problems. Why is one more enjoyable than the other, and why are much more likely to pick up one than the other?
The simple answer is, we like games. Research shows that we are much more likely to stick to repetitive, difficult tasks if they are in the form of a game. That’s why setting specific goals is so important for keeping your New Year’s Resolution.
When you have a specific goal and frame it as a game, it becomes a challenge we can beat, instead of a mundane task we have to do. When you fail at a game, you look at what caused you to fail, what the solution is, and try it again.
Turning our New Year’s Resolutions into games increases the odds of success significantly. This involves you creating a narrative that fits in with your goals. From the example before, if you want to exercise more, set a goal of running 3 times a week. Then turn that into a game. First, try to go 1 week with running three times a week. If you succeed, great. Try to set a new goal of running three times a week for two weeks in a row.
If you fail, ask yourself why you failed. Was it that you couldn’t find time that week? It was too cold outside? Then, look for a solution to these problems and try again. Set a specific time in your schedule to run, or run inside on the treadmill. Then start over again, and set the goals for the game.
When we set measurable goals, we have a benchmark for determining success. Then treating those goals as a game allows us to learn from our failures, and find ways to achieve success.
But what if there is no way we can achieve the goals we set? Doesn’t that lead to frustration and failure? That’s where the importance of setting attainable goals comes in.
Create goals you can achieve, but aren’t too easy
Here’s your fitness goal for the year: set the world record marathon time. Sound a little too hard? Ok, how about blinking quickly two times a day. A little too easy?
Neither of those are great goals when it comes to your New Year’s Resolution. If you’re goal is unreachable, you will have no interest in sticking with it. And if your goal is too simple, you really aren’t improving in a meaningful way.
To make your goals interesting, and worth pursuing, they have to be attainable yet challenging. Starting out, you probably have a good idea of what is reasonable for yourself. But if not, turning them into a game will help you figure out pretty quickly if you need to adjust them.
If you get started on a goal and realize it’s impossible, adjust accordingly. Alternatively, if you hit your year long goal in the first week, you know you need to make some changes. Either way, to make the changes you are looking for, you need to set difficult, but attainable goals.
You can Reach Your Goals this New Year
If you’re like most people, you probably have given up on the idea of a New Year’s Resolution. And who can blame you? They’re hard to follow, and making changes is hard. But (and this applies to not only New Year’s Resolutions, but any life goals), if you set attainable goals, and turn them into a challenging, yet fun game, you can realize the results you are looking for this year.
Looking for Help Reaching your Health Goals?
NeoVitin is here to help you with your health goals. Dr. Rybicki formulated NeoVitin when he was training for his first half-marathon at 50. He wanted energy support, immune support, and help with his overall well-being, so he could reach his goals. NeoVitin is affordable, easy to take, and will support you in your journey to reach your goals. Learn more about NeoVitin and how it can be your partner in reaching your goals.