3 failed resolutions! It’s the New Year, time for another resolution (sighroll)!

I really did not mean to start this article off on a negative note, but new years resolutions and I have rarely had a positive relationship.

Seasons greetings…

Before I carry on with my rant, let me wish all of you, our readers, good tidings for this festive season and a happy and prosperous New Year 2020!  

…and a Happy New Year

Why resolutions?

Why do people make resolutions at new years’ time? The answer, more often than not, is self-improvement. To start the new year on a positive note, to be a better version of yourself. Such a laudable goal and yet most people fail in their resolutions. 

And this new year being also the start of a new decade, people are going to be making resolutions left, right, and centre.  

So, I pulled out my list of unfulfilled resolutions and resolved that this year I will not fail in my resolutions. I looked into why most people fail in their resolutions and more importantly how they succeed. Here is what I found.

7 and a bit ways to make your resolutions a success!  

Tim Pychyl – professor of psychology at Carleton University
  1. Cultural procrastination: According to Tim Pychyl, an associate professor of psychology at Carleton University and the author of “Solving the Procrastination Puzzle: A Concise Guide to Strategies for Change”, this is  – “culturally prescribed procrastination,” meaning we’re culturally primed to procrastinate by making a resolution for a future date, instead of committing now. So, don’t wait for the new year to start your self-improvement goal, start right now! 
  2. Reprogram your mind: Your mind and body are used to the way you do things, something akin to muscle memory. If you are under the impression that starting or stopping something is going to be easy and not require you to work on it, you are (probably) wrong. You need to work on developing good habits that can help in achieving your goals. There is a reason why so many people fail in their resolutions. So how do you go about reprogramming you mind? 
    • Get specific: Let’s say your resolution for the new year is to get healthy. What does that even mean? Do you mean eating healthy, losing weight, going to the gym, giving up smoking – getting healthy is just so vague. Be specific: what do you want to achieve in “getting healthy”? 
    • Set short-term goals: Now let’s say you choose to exercise more. Again, let’s try and get more specific: you choose to run every day (although swimming might be a better choice, lower impact). First, set yourself the end goal: running in your local 10K marathon at the end of the year. Now break this down to short term goals – you will run 1 kilometre a day for the first 30 days, then 2 kilometres a day for the next 30 days, then 4, 6 and so on. 
    • Track your progress: As you progress, keep track of your achievements. It will help in building your confidence and motivating you. You will be able to see your progress and your success and will not want to fail. There are plenty of apps and fitness trackers (you might already own) that can help you do this with a high level of granularity.
    • By the end of this exercise, your body would have gotten used to running every day from not running at all and you would have gotten healthier. You would have also succeeded in reprogramming your mind and developing a good habit. 
  3. Choose achievable goals: Be realistic! If you decided to become the next leader of your country and are not already in politics, then that is unlikely to happen. So, choose something achievable, that can have a positive impact in your life. Learn a new language, lose weight (set a specific target), stop smoking, complete your assignments before the deadline, show up to all your classes, join an MBA, complete your master’s degree this year, etc. 
  4. Choose a resolution that is personal: Your resolution should be personal to you. Achieving it should make you happy and benefit you. You will be more motivated to stick to your resolution if the resolution has a tangible and positive impact in your life.  
  5. Stay true to yourself: Don’t choose to take on so many resolutions that it will change your very character. If you want to be a better version of yourself, do it slowly, step by step, get used to the changes and like what you see. If too many things change too soon, you are not going to like it and will start making excuses to fail in your resolutions. Make one or at most two resolutions, there is always next year.
  6. Keep going: Failure is part of life and every failure is a learning experience. Cliché, I know, but it is a fact. Everybody fails, but that doesn’t mean you just give up; start over tomorrow. It’s not like all your hard work will be wiped out with a single failure, or even multiple failures – pick-up from your last success.
    • It is usually the case that we are our harshest critic, so if that is your case too, give yourself a break. If a friend or family member failed at something and was upset, you would likely (hopefully!) support him or her. So, what is the harm in extending that same support to yourself?
  7. Ask for help: If you are comfortable with sharing your resolutions with your friends and family and believe that they will be able to support and help you in achieving your resolutions then don’t be ashamed in asking for their help. Chances are, they will be happy to see you succeed.   

What’s next?

Have I missed any points that you feel can help someone stick to their resolutions? Let us know in the comments below. 

If your resolution is to do a master’s degree or learn something new, then explore the number of specialised master’s degree programmes offered by Robert Kennedy College through exclusive partnerships with top British universities. Or, if you have already made up your mind, click here to apply

Sahil Devasia

Sahil Devasia has a bachelor’s degree in Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science with an MBA in Marketing. He has a wide gamut of professional experience, from the Merchant Marines to the Banking and Finance industries and has been associated with Robert Kennedy College since 2015.  His favourite song is Bon Jovi’s - It's My Life and his ambition in life is to be the “World’s best Dad”. 

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