New year’s resolution has become part of humans’ cultures even ever since the Babylonian civilization. Despite that, American Psychological Association disclosed that 92% of Americans made resolutions and nearly 50% failed to fulfill them by February.
Considering their deeply rooted relationship with new year’s resolution, how can such enormous number of humans fails to fulfill theirs? Also, what is interesting is that humans tend to keep making the same resolutions next year even though they know the success probability is highly unlikely.
To begin with, the answer lies within the lack of willpower to make a revolutionary habit. Wendy Wood, the Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC Marshall School of Business, explained that people tend to misunderstand about habits as a mere matter of willpower.
“Forming a new habit isn’t rational like this. Neither is changing old habits. Old habits fade only slowly. So, as your motivation wanes, resolutions are hard, not fun, your old habit is still there,” she said. “We don’t understand how our habits work. In fact, we are not supposed to understand them. Habits are part of our unconscious mind.”
Considering the massive gravity of habits over new year’s resolution, there are several preparatory activities humans can set in order to help cultivate the wanted habits. The preparations to rule ourselves, or be the king of ourselves, are as follows.
Also Read: Build a Healthy Work Environment, Now!
Develop a Change in Environment and Immediate, Gradual Goals
A supportive environment is indubitably highly influential in forming habits. This is so for a reinforcing environment will more or less help put our willpower and focus on its spot. To control the environment, one simple step is to limit the negative and keep trying to find a fresh one.
Additionally, immediate and gradual goals are salient. Such goals prevent yourself from being too specific. Having a detailed, long-term goal poses bigger risks of failure than the breakdowns of those goals into smaller, more immediate goals that gradually come.
Expect the Worst and Prepare If-Then Strategies
Expecting the worst, according to Stoicism, prevents you from being forgetful to the reality. Sometimes, humans tend to fantasize good things only. If it does not come according to the plan, they will suffer from their very own imagination. Expecting the worse helps humans cope with the worst-case scenario. And, if the event does not turn to be as worse as their imagination, it will greatly add up to their fulfillment.
Also, coming with the expectation, preparing if-then strategies is a good way to bounce back if something happens. By making such preparations, you will open yourself to various alternatives and possibilities to reach your new year’s resolution. These strategies also provision you with backup plans if you crave for something that possibly jeopardizes your resolutions.
Be Absolving and Self-Rewarding
Be absolving is highly important to keep yourself from being stressful if you cannot meet your target at a specific schedule. However, people tend to believe that blaming themselves for even the simplest setback will help them to wake up and do better. Studies, however, prove the otherwise.
Also, practicing self-compassion applies to the situation when you have managed to accomplish even the smallest part of your goal. In so doing, self-rewarding is a good way to appreciate yourself and your efforts. However, it is essential to note that the form of self-rewarding should not contradict or negatively contribute to the resolutions as a whole.
Also Read: Money Saving Tips You Should Not Skip
