How to Make your Resolutions Stick
3 Proven Tips to Make Healthy Changes Stick for 365 Days
February is often referred to as National Quitters Month. You know why? Well, it’s around 30 days after all the pomp and circumstance of “Ringing in the New Year” and all that hype and gusto of “New Year - New You” is all a distant memory. I mean come on, if we’re honest with ourselves we’re lucky if our resolutions make it two weeks let alone a whole month.
But what if that didn’t have to be the case. What if the resolutions you made on December 31st of one year actually made it all the way to December 31st of the next year. And while I am never going to promise anyone that keeping a resolution for an entire year is easy; I can let you in on a few secrets to make it easier . . . and those secrets might not be as complicated as you think.
Keep Future You In Mind
We live in an instant gratification “My Way; Right Away” culture. The only thing better than getting what we want right now is getting what we want right now along with what we are going to want tomorrow. And that’s a huge problem for anybody that wants to make a healthy change that doesn’t promise immediate results.
The secret that helped me through this was thinking about what “future Eric” was saying to me . . . and as dumb as that sounds it really helped! I was sick of being the guy that would look back at the end of the week, month, year in disappointment and think; “man, I wish I would of . . . “ or “if I just would have kept going then think of where I would be now”. So, I flipped the script and instead of looking back at “past Eric '' and wishing he would have, I looked ahead to “future Eric” and thought about how amazing he felt!
The long and short here; let the feeling of eventual success (and all the amazing emotions and glory of that success) dwarf the feeling of immediate gratification (and all its eventual guilt and disappointment).
Replace “All Or Nothing” with “Always Something”
Let’s be honest here; life happens and oftentimes our best laid plans and intentions get derailed due to busy schedules, long hours, and moments of weakness. Sometimes it’s within our control but a lot of times it’s not. What is in our control though; is how we cope with and respond to these little derailments.
Usually, my immediate response was something like; “Well, I missed my morning workout because my lazy butt hit snooze too many times so I might as well just have a creme filled donut for breakfast and a large Frappuccino with extra whip and get back at it tomorrow.” Or how about this one? “Yeah, I had to work a little late tonight so goodbye workout time and hello Netflix!”
As Luka Hocevar says, that’s an “all or nothing” mindset. If one meal is off; or one workout is missed; or your jogging time gets cut from 25 minutes to 10 minutes we just throw in the towel instead of pivoting and always accomplishing something. So, you had a client or friend take you out to an “off menu” lunch. Enjoy the lunch and get back on track for dinner. You missed your daily workout for whatever reason. Get a good night’s rest and hit it twice as hard tomorrow. You get the idea. Don’t let a small speed bump derail your entire journey!
“Don’t let a small speed bump derail your entire journey!”
Massive Goals Take Miniature Gains
One of the biggest problems with resolutions is that way too much focus and attention is given to the resolutions and not nearly enough thought is put into how you are going to actually achieve those resolutions. On January 1st of each year, right around 12:01am (give or take a few minutes); there are far too many people talking about all the lofty goals they are going to achieve over the next 365 days and rarely give even a second to figure out how they are going to get there.
“I’m gonna finally take that trip!” - OK, that’s amazing! But how?
“I’m gonna save $5,000!” - OK, I love it!! But how??
“I’m gonna lose 100 pounds!” - OK, super commendable! But how????
Every massive goal is made up of dozens of attained miniature gains . . . and those are made up of even dozens of more daily “micro-wins”. If we don’t plan out those miniature steps and only look at the end goal it’ll seem that we aren’t making any progress. And when it feels like we aren’t making any progress then you better believe that we are sure to lose steam and peter out.
Before you keep reading this, take a second and google “life sized Legos”. I’ll wait and be here when you get back.
If you actually took a second and did that (and if you didn’t I have an example of life-sized Lego Thor above) you will see these amazing life-sized sculptures that are made from nothing more than thousands of little Lego pieces that are individually no larger than a couple inches. If you looked at just the finished product and someone handed you a gargantuan box of Legos and told you to do the same thing, you would immediately be overwhelmed, and it wouldn't take long before the swearing would start, and you would quit. But if someone gave you the piece-by-piece instructions for just the first step, and then after that the next, and then the next, and so on and so on; then eventually you have the life-sized structure complete.
Keeping to your healthy goals and changes works the exact same way. Instead of the looming goal of losing 100 pounds in a year; break it down into miniature gains like losing around 2 pounds a week. And that 2-pound miniature gain will be attained by even smaller micro-wins like exercising 3 - 5 times weekly, and cutting out as much sugar as possible, and getting adequate quality and quantities of sleep, etc.
Write those goals down and be specific about it. Give dates and weights and measurements and all cool things that you will be able to do that you can’t do now (push ups; pull ups; jog 10 minutes without stopping; whatever).
“Write those goals down and be specific about it.”
Last thing and definitely the most important thing; celebrate the crap out of those miniature gains and micro-wins! Seeing and celebrating the “small wins” keeps the blood flowing and the adrenaline going to eventually get you to your massive goal!
