Struggling with Keeping Your Resolutions? Time to Change a Few Things
The holidays have come and gone, and so was the year before. If you’re like most people, you probably have a short list of resolutions you want to keep this year. This is always good to have but writing resolutions down and keeping them are totally different, and it’s not uncommon for someone to just lose interest in keeping their resolutions altogether.
If you’re one of those who are struggling with their resolutions, maybe it’s time for a change or two or at least a modest revision. Here are the 5 ways to tell if you should revise your original plan for this year.
1. You had an unexpected life event.
If the bulk of your resolutions involved being physically healthy or staying in the same place for a year, then it’s not surprising if something unexpected happened and your resolutions are suddenly becoming more like wishful thinking. If something changes in your life and it makes you unable to comply with your resolutions (whether a sudden physical limitation or a lack of access to needed resources), you should adjust your resolutions with your current state.
2. You no longer feel like doing it.
Losing motivation to continue with what you started is not that uncommon. Motivation is critical in accomplishing anything worthwhile, and if you’re no longer motivated to keep a specific resolution, you might as well change it into something you feel better about. It doesn’t mean to just let go of a resolution. Revisions are a thing, and you can revise like you do reports and emails.
Instead of something like “stopping smoking,” try “smoking two less sticks per day.” Instead of learning a new instrument, try learning to be good at a few notes.
3. Something more important needs attention.
A trivial resolution is just that: trivial. If something warrants your attention more than what you’ve already listed down, then feel free to change it up. Then, it will be like hitting two birds with one stone: You will not only accomplish an important life goal, but also tick a resolution.
Say, your resolution was to run a mile every day. Sounds doable, but then something changes and suddenly you have to train with weights or train to be a cyclist. Adjust based on what matters to you the most.
4. Your friends opted out early.
Many resolutions are made with a buddy or a group of friends. Be it going to the gym together, hiking a mountain, playing a new sport, or beating a world record. If your buddy or friends have just stopped, then there’s really no reason for you to hold on to something you didn’t plan on accomplishing by yourself.
You can always find new people to complete your resolutions with, but this is unlikely given that everyone has different priorities and plans for the year.
5. The resolution was made impulsively.
Resolutions made on impulse and not full intention won’t last long. This is especially true when you’re just making resolutions because your friends made the same ones or if you’re just trying to fit in. Regardless, it will feel empty completing a resolution you didn’t want to do in the first place, so it’s better to change now while we’re still early in the year.
Takeaway…
Keeping resolutions isn’t mandatory, but they’re also nice to do. However, if you find yourself struggling with any of them, or perhaps the conditions you needed to keep them changed, there’s nothing wrong with revising or just making an entirely new resolution.
Your resolutions are only for you in the end. So, it’s best you only keep the ones you know are practical and doable and drop those you made on a whim or with people who aren’t around anymore.
