If you’re one of the 22% of Americans that is still on track with your New Year’s Resolution, congratulations! The other 88% of us have already broken them.
According to Statista, these are the most common resolutions from 2024:
- Save more money
- Exercise more
- Eat healthier
- Spend more time with family/friends
- Lose weight
- Reduce spendings on living expenses
- Spend less time on social media
- Reduce stress on the job
Was one of these your resolution? Are you still on track?
With a brief search, you’ll find that most New Year’s Resolutions are already broken by the end of January.
There are even names given to the dates:
“Quitter’s Day” the second Friday of January
“Stick to Your New Year’s Resolution Day” on January 12
“Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day” on January 17
Then there’s also a day for reengaging:
“New Year’s Resolution Recommitment Day” on June 1
In any case, New Year’s Resolutions are a hot topic, especially at the start of a new year, but they’re also quickly forgotten and ditched on the side of the road. I think I’ve found a common culprit.
Why We Fail at New Year’s Resolutions
Setting a resolution at any time during the year requires one major component.
Whether you’re trying to lose weight, get more organized, or reduce stress at your job, there is always something that you must stop doing in order to be successful.
This can be easy to see when we talk about losing weight or reducing spending. Or at least that’s what common methodology would lead you to believe.
By the most simplistic metrics (that are quite outdated from my perspective), the best way to lose weight is not eating so much. Calories in and calories out, and all that.
Or for saving money, there’s a similar strategy, just don’t spend so much.
These recommendations may be good on paper, like doing a math equation
“If Jane weighs 169 lbs and wants to lose 9 pounds before her vacation in May, how many fewer calories does she need to eat each day to meet her goal?”
Unfortunately, just saying that you’ll eat fewer calories does not account for other life stuff that has nothing to do with calories in/calories out and weight gain.
Accomplishing a resolution is always more than what’s visible on the surface.
When you recognize what the other issues are that keep you from accomplishing your goal and can start breaking those things apart to get to the root, you’re more likely to make your official goal.
Sure, it takes more time than just saying, “I’ll do x, y, z this year.” But identifying what is you truly need to remove from your life in order to accomplish what you need to do is worth the deeper dive.
The question is now: What will you give up to accomplish your resolution or goal?
Sometimes it can be hard to keep track of new habits throughout the day. That’s why we added it as a healthy habit to track in The Agile Life Plan 4-week kick-start free course. Try it out for yourself 🙂
