Stay resolute and how
How lucky are you with your New Year resolutions? Do you break them even before you say hello to January? Emma Ross on why resolutions fail and what you can do to stick to your goals

So the New Year is round the corner and so is the time for New Year resolutions (NYRs). Do NYRs work? Well, sort of`85. Research suggests that the long-term success rate of NYRs is only about 15-20 per cent. Put another way, 80-85 per cent are not able to keep their resolutions over a one-to-two-year period. For example, at some point in their lives, nearly half the population have made a New Year resolution to lose weight or change their eating habits. Of those, 20 per cent broke their resolution within a week, 68 per cent broke it within three months, and only 15 per cent kept their resolution for a year or longer.

The top three reasons for breaking resolutions were identified as: procrastinating , lack of discipline and no gameplan

To summarise, the survey indicates that 99 per cent of the NYR makers feel they need to improve their lives, but only 9 per cent actively do something about it.`A0`A0

According to the Psychological Institute of the USA, the most desirable resolutions were: lose weight, pay off debt,`A0save money, get a better job,`A0get fit, eat right, get a better education, drink less alcohol, quit smoking now, reduce stress overall, reduce stress at work`A0and take a trip.

Simply put, if our lives and actions were conducive to producing a particular result, we would probably produce it, especially if it was important to us. Our brains are wired in such a way that certain behaviours keep repeating, which in turn produces results that are consistent with those behaviours. Trying to change a behaviour without working on the "wiring" is like trying to convince yourself to drink buttermilk, when the very thought of it makes you want to puke. Let’s face it, if you hate working out at the gym then buying a three-year contract at your local fitness centre in the hope that it will somehow shame you into working out will not help.

But our trying should be proportionate to our capabilities. ‘Bring peace to mankind’ is a great resolution if you are the Pope, but is not of much use if you are not. Likewise, ‘eliminate terrorism’ is good for George Bush, but a bit of a waste for you and me. On the other side of the scale are resolutions like ‘clean up office drawer’ or ‘tidy wardrobe’, because they are too easy and are the kind of matter-of-fact things which shouldn’t need to see a change of calendar. It’s the difficult things that need to be on the list.

Psychological studies show that your resolutions are bound to fail`A0for the following reasons:

• Your resolution is about ‘not doing’ something.

• Your resolutions aren’t written down or captured

• You’re not using SMART goals. SMART goals are: specific, measurable, achievable by you, realistic, and set within a time frame

• You’re trying to eat an elephant in one bite.

• You check on your resolutions once a year.

• You’ve got no accountability – it’s just you and your resolution.

• You give up at the first hurdle.

• The most important reason is that you know that there is a hidden bonus in failing? Very often we have a hidden payoff, in staying the way we are. If you keep setting a goal or resolution that you then give up on, it’s worth looking at what you gain by staying the way you are now or what you might lose by changing.

Have a strong initial commitment to make a change.

Have coping strategies to deal with problems that will come up.

Keep track of your progress. The more monitoring you do and feedback you get, the better you will do.

...Not thinking about making resolutions until the last minute.

...Reacting on New Year’s Eve and making your resolutions based on what’s bothering you or is on your mind at that time.

...Framing your resolutions as absolutes by saying, "I will never do X again."

— MF (By arrangement with Albion Features of the UK)

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