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In this article, Mia Reese will be discussing why people tend to fall short when it comes to fulfilling their new year´s goals and how to prevent that from happening.
The 411 on New Year's Resolutions
By Mia Reese
With 2022 quickly coming to an end, the new year is approaching. Every year that comes arrives with endless possibilities. It is exciting to know that anything can happen and that everyone can accomplish their dreams. This idea leads to the annual process of writing down new year's resolutions. These resolutions come with their own set of issues, though. When it comes to thinking of and writing down goals, everyone excels, but when it comes time to follow-through, many people find themselves struggling.
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New year's resolutions have been around for a long time– over 4,000 years, thanks to Ancient Babylonians that, supposedly, were the first to hold New Year celebrations. In a 12-day religious festival called Akitu, Babylonians would crown a new king or declare their loyalty to the current king. During the festival, they would also promise the gods to pay back any debt or return objects they had borrowed. If the person kept their promise, then that individual would be granted favor in the new year by the gods. This process is said to be the beginning of new year's resolutions. It is interesting to think that, even though this process has been around for thousands of years, we are not that good at keeping up with our goals. According to a study from The National Library of Medicine, where researchers tracked the goals of 200 people,¨Seventy-seven percent maintained their pledges for 1 week but only 19% for 2 years.¨
There are many reasons why new year's resolutions fail. A significant factor that contributes to unsuccessful goals is that goal-setters may tend to focus on the outcome, rather than the steps they must take to reach that goal. Creating healthy habits is an essential part of achieving goals because the habits we make are a part of everyday life. Another reason people fall short is that many adopt an all-or-nothing mindset. An article from Forbes states that “The all-or-nothing mentality paralyzes you.” Having this mindset is so harmful because it does not leave room for anything but perfection. If and when a mistake is made, this mindset will make one give up because they were not perfect. But isn't perfection unattainable? Day-to-day life includes mistakes; it is part of being human. That fact needs to be taken into account when working towards something.
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So how can you better your odds of achieving your goals? Be realistic! Do not write down goals you will not follow through with just for the sake of writing them down. For instance, if your goal is to be healthier in 2023 and you vow to never eat junk food, that is unrealistic. A better goal would be to eat more whole foods. It is important to allow yourself room to make mistakes and allow yourself to recover from them in order to keep going. When setting a goal ponder, How would achieving this make me feel? Hold onto that feeling success would bring because that feeling will motivate you in times of struggle. According to The New York Times, your goals should be SMART, "an acronym coined in the journal Management Review in 1981 for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.¨ Following this method will help your goals flourish because they will be more realistic and planned.
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Reaching goals is difficult in general because they challenge us to be better. However, by taking the necessary steps to plan and execute them, success should be more attainable. It is vital to remember that the journey to success is hard and will be filled with slip-ups. Do not expect perfection of yourself because perfection is not attainable and will ultimately make the process harder.
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