Why It’s Okay To Quit and Restart Your New Year’s Resolution As Often As Needed
Written by: Reem Borrows, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Did you know that exercising was the most popular New Year’s resolution for 2021 last year?
50% of people wanted to improve their overall fitness, 48% to lose weight, 44% of people wanted to get better with their money and 39% of people wanted to improve their diet. However, in the end, only about 30-40% of those people that set these goals kept them. That means 60-70% of people quit the personal development goals they made in 2021.
Annually Setting Goals is Like a Holiday Activity
Setting goals is an annual activity for a lot of people. Make a new year’s resolution, give it a good one to three months, then quit and give up and spend the rest of the year back in those same old habits. But why does this happen for 60-70% of people that make these resolutions?
It’s because we desire to change the things that we don’t like about ourselves. Whether it’s how we look in a mirror, or how our bank statements look at the end of each month. All of us know exactly what we would like to change about ourselves and there is a sense of hope that happens every new year. It’s a time of new beginnings, hope for a better year with better opportunities.
So, how is it that 60-70% of us know what we want to change in our lives whether it’s our health and fitness or our finances, relationships or to learn new skills, that we give up on these desires only a couple of weeks or months into the new year?
Why Do People Quit Their New Year’s Resolutions?
This may come across as blunt or straightforward, but it’s really the only way to answer this question we ask ourselves every year. We quit our new year’s resolutions and our personal development goals after only a few weeks because we are not emotionally attached to our goals enough and then we lack the self-discipline to keep pushing ourselves when that new year’s honeymoon phase has ended.
It’s that moment when you lose the excitement you had the first few times walking into the gym. Or when that attaboy or attagirl you gave yourself after you denied yourself that weekly restaurant dinner to start saving money, makes you feel more like a prude than a successful money saver. We fall into our old habits all over again.
It’s a lack of self-discipline to keep going when the body starts to get sore. It’s underestimating that breaking bad habits to make better and healthier ones is only going to come with consistency. To break past bad habits, you need to replace them consciously with new habits that are aligned to your goal. And to embed the new habit, you have to do it over and over again until it’s embedded into your subconscious mind and behaviour.
Failure Can Be a Good Thing for Personal Development
Failing and quitting a new year’s resolution isn’t a bad thing so there is no need to beat yourself up all year long though. In all actuality, failure is one of the best teachers available to you on your journey of personal development. So long as you look at it as your First Act In Learning and not as a negative thing, you should aim to F.A.I.L often.
If you have the consistency, discipline, and willingness to confront your failure and use it as an educational tool to learn how to do better next time, and then push yourself to do better the next day, setting goals becomes easier when you embrace the ebb and flow, the ups and downs. The “ebb and flow” is life and it’s the journey to get you from where you are today to where you want to get to. It’s a wonderful journey of exploration and adventure so have fun with it.
Just remember, it’s never too late to restart, rebuild and follow your goals. Fail a little bit, then learn from them, and then succeed. Rinse and repeat…
If you are interested in learning more or in a leadership workshop? Email Reem on reem@dreem.com.au to organise a session to identify your needs or your teams needs.
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Reem Borrows, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Reem Borrows, the founder of Dreem Coaching and Consulting, facilitates change for meaningful growth. For over 20 years, Reem worked in Senior Leadership Roles, leading and developing effective teams and individuals across the areas of Sales, Marketing, and Training. Today, she uses her knowledge and expertise to help people realize their full potential in both business and personal goals. Reem’s authenticity as a leader, her business acumen, mindset development strategies, and her dedication to achieving results are the foundation of her work. She cultivates the principles, strategies, execution plans, and fundamentals of a winning mindset. She has a passion for helping people find their true calling so they can unleash their inner power. Reem focuses on helping her clients grow exponentially with Balance, Focus, and Flow. Her services are the helpful current that pushes clients in the right direction and provides them with the structure they need to make vital progress with results that stick.
