It’s been over a month that most of people made a New Year resolution before the current year 2021. And a lot of us struggle with keeping to the resolutions we outlined for ourselves to adhere to. Below is what we know about resolutions.
According to a set of statistics published in 2019 – 8% of participants failed to keep any resolutions. And 57% chose not to make a New Year’s resolution for the New Year. The most popular resolutions going into the New Year were to exercise more (59%), eat healthier (54%), save money (51%), and lose weight (48%).
Making New Year resolutions date as far back as when the Roman Empire was at its peak. The Romans began each year by making promises to the god Janus, for whom the month of January is named.
A reason why resolutions may not work is that they are too vague or too broad. They have to be SMART, which is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. SMART has been used in the field of management but it’s also very useful for setting resolutions.
Specific: Your resolutions have to be very clear. If you are looking to run more, a specific goal would be running two miles within a month.
Measurable: Measuring a goal helps you see your progress. If you want to run two miles within a month, you can use a fitness app to log the distances you run per week.
Achievable: Running two miles within a month doesn’t sound like a big goal but it might not be achievable if you try to run two miles in only one day. Start off small: run half a mile by the end of Week 1 and increase by half a mile every week after that.
Relevant: You have to think about how much this goal matters to you. If you are running more because you don’t like your body, your resolution won’t last long. If you start running because you are serious about turning a new leaf for your health, your resolution can last longer.
Time-bound: The timeline of your goal has to be realistic. If you find that running two miles within a month is not doable, give yourself more time. Don’t think you’re falling behind on your goal — your resolutions will take time because they should become long-term habits.
Helpful Tips include ; finding a support system to keep you on track, Learning from your past and being honest with yourself and lastly is to seek help when necessary.
So that’s what we know about resolutions with a few tips to help along the way. Here’s to living a better and more productive life.