New Year Resolutions – Let’s not set ourselves up to fail in the first few days!
A message from our founding Partner Michelle McArthur-Morgan
Like so many others, in years gone past, I have set myself three, four and sometimes five New Year Resolutions, only to find that before January was out, I had forgotten all about them.
Why do the majority of New Year’s resolutions never see the 31st of January?
The answer lies in neuroscience……….
- We set too many resolutions and try to focus on too many big changes at the same time, we know from neuroscience that although the brain is a very powerful organ it has limited capacity and it is very easy to overload
- We do not spend enough time thinking about why we want to make a change, what difference will it make, how will we benefit and what would be the consequences of not making the change?
- We set unrealistic expectations of ourselves, that doesn’t take into account all of the other things which we still need to do
- We don’t break the resolution down into manageable chunks and plan our reward for success
So let’s get 2022 off to an awesome start
- Set yourself just one New Year resolution
- Be sure it is something you really want to achieve, you are intrinsically motivated to succeed and that you know exactly how it will benefit you
- Break the resolution down into small steps and celebrate your wins with a small reward. The brain prefers instant rewards and will remain motivated by celebrating the small wins, rather than having to wait in anticipation of the big win at the end
- Tell your family, friends, colleagues about your resolution
- Create reminders and prompts to help maintain your focus on the resolution
- Spend time visualising and thinking about the resolution, see yourself having succeeded, just a few minutes each day
- Practise often
- Be kind to yourself, if you get your resolution wrong or forget about it one time, don’t be hard on yourself, show yourself some compassion and start again the next day
