We’re three days into January and people have broken their New Year’s resolutions already. Shock horror.
Starting good habits on the 1 January is admittedly hard. How are you meant to give up chocolate when you’ve got two tubs of Quality Street left in the cupboard? How can you ditch booze when there’s still leftover wine? And how are you supposed to join a gym when you can’t even get on a treadmill because the gym is so packed?
One colleague told me her brother pledged to give up drinking on 1 January and by 6pm that day, he’d already cracked open a bottle of wine. And he’s certainly not alone...
[Read More: Find out how 6 people completed their resolutions last year with our ‘Resolution Wins’ series]
If you’ve failed at the first hurdle, don’t despair. Our advice is to try again on Monday because, let’s face it, the first week back at work was 100% sent to try us.
Dawn Ann Campbell, from the International Authority for Professional Coaching and Mentoring, says 80% of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned or forgotten by the end of January.
If you really do want to stick to yours, her advice is to make them SMART, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-orientated. Reviewing and evaluating them throughout the year will help you stay focused and on track, she says.
Or, if you find the whole ‘resolutions’ thing impossible to stick to, it might be time to change the word. “Try calling them solutions instead,” Campbell advises. “Think about what you’re trying to achieve and why, instead of obsessing about how.”
Once you’ve decided on your goal(s), make a plan, write it down and stick to it. “What solutions will motivate you to change and achieve the healthier,
happier, or wealthier lifestyle you desire?” asks Campbell. “Writing down the answer will increase your success rate from 10% to 25%.”
Of course, if you don’t want to make any New ear’s resolutions (which is totally ok), just make it your resolution not to make any – then you won’t feel like a failure at the end of January when you’ve not done them.