4 Steps to Choosing a 2022 New Year’s Resolution that Works!
written by Lisa Finley and Kate Lamprich
Graphic by Lisa Finley
At the end of every year, people begin thinking of a resolution, or goal, to set for the following year. The new year symbolizes an opportunity for a new you, and year after year, people verbalize their resolution but fail to follow-through with it. This year, join Essential Health and Wellness in not only choosing an achievable resolution for the new year, but also in following through with your resolution and obtaining your goal.
Why are we encouraging you to make a resolution that will work?
10 years ago, I made a New Year’s Resolution following these 4 Steps and it changed my life for the better.
For the first time, I’d set a resolution that was specific, measurable, and reasonable. I was able to stick with it throughout the whole year by self-evaluating in smaller increments of time and in turn, the resolution followed me throughout the year and into the following year. Eventually my resolution slid into becoming a habit I didn’t have to think so hard about, and this came through consistent practice of making the resolution a positive focus in my life.
Graphic by Lisa Finley
I went from being a glass half-empty, pessimistic person who was regularly bothered by the most mundane things in life to a person filled with positivity and began seeing the world in a happier light. I had been living a life of chronic stress leading to severe effects on my physical health. I was unable to relax without pain, experienced migraines, vertigo, anxiety, depression, heart dysfunction, and was just sick all of the time. I wasn’t good for myself, and I wasn’t good for anyone around me. My whole life is different now, and I want to share this with you so you too can be inspired to create positive change for yourself.
The first step in my progression to living a life without the mental and physical ailments bogging me down was to choose to strive for a clearer and more positive mindset.
Where did this practice
of a New Year’s Resolution come from, and how has it evolved today?
Take a trip back about 4,000 years ago to Ancient Rome and walk amongst the ancient Babylonians. Each new year, the Babylonians would crown the new royalty in the new year as a symbolic show of new beginnings. The people would make a promise to their gods of an action they would change or do in the new year, and the gods would reward their successful resolutions with a favor bestowed upon them. Babylonians weren’t the only people to make resolutions. Romans would make sacrifices and promises of change to their gods. A lot of weight was put on their resolutions and there was a belief negative repercussions would occur if they were not successful. On the flip side, positive effects would occur if they were successful in achieving their actionable change.
It’s nearly impossible to know if the ancients kept their New Year’s resolutions, but we do know the practice has evolved and continues to occur to this day. While we still declare having made New Year’s Resolutions, not as much weight is put on it these days. People don’t commonly believe their god or gods will bestow any favors upon them if they successfully quit smoking or successfully lose weight. People don’t give other people rewards for setting and achieving a New Year’s Resolution. Even Hallmark doesn’t make cards for the occasion. But don’t let the lack of attention keep you from making your own positive changes because positive effects will follow your positive changes, and we at Essential Health and Wellness will be cheering you on.
Why it’s so hard to follow-through with a New Year’s Resolution
In general, resolutions these days are inwardly focused; meani
ng we tend to choose a resolution symbolic to ourselves to foster personal change. We declare we will lose weight, we will go to the gym and work-out, we will eat healthier, or we will remove negative habits such as smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol. You, along with hundreds of other people, will be tempted to choose one of those vague and common resolutions, but we caution against that as you’ll fall into one of the three main reasons resolutions fail.
According to psychotherapist, Jonathan Alpert, there are three main reasons New Year’s Resolutions fail:
1. The resolution is not specific enough causing the resolution to lack a measurable goal or way to mark progress.
2. The resolution is not stated in a positive way. Using negative language when referring to a behavior you want to eliminate or change puts focus on the negative behavior and negatively effects the outcome.
3. The resolution is not specifically about you causing the resolution to not be an actual goal you truly desire to achieve. Just because health experts advise against smoking tobacco, it doesn’t mean you’re truly ready to be able to tackle and achieve that goal.
4 Steps to Choosing a New Year’s Resolution
You now know what doesn’t work, so let’s turn this into a positive change moment and discuss the 4 Steps to Choosing a New Year’s Resolution that works.
1. Think about you and your specific goals. The first thoughts that come to your mind will most likely be broad and non-specific. That’s okay! Take those broad goals and whittle them down to create a more narrow and specific goal for yourself. Identify a specific goal you want to change or do better with.
2. Set daily, weekly, and monthly promises to yourself of actions you can take to achieve your goal. Be specific, measurable, and most importantly, reasonable. Don’t make promises you can’t keep!
3. And because it’s most important, we will say it again: Be reasonable with yourself! Don’t take on too much. Each month you will re-evaluate your goal and progress so there’s no need to dive headfirst into unrealistic goals and overwhelm yourself.
4. Use positive language in your resolution. Instead of saying you will “stop” or “quit” something, choose to replace the negative behavior with a positive behavior and focus on incorporating the positive behavior in life rather than focus on the negative behavior.
How to use the 4 Steps to Choosing a New Year’s Resolution
We’ve shared the tips and tricks, but now it’s time to get down to business and choose your New Year’s Resolution. We’ll walk you through a breakdown of each of the steps using the most commonly chosen New Year’s Resolution: dieting/weight loss.
After the holidays and most recently these years of quarantine and uncertainty, weight inevitably has been packed on. Setting a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight is not specific enough to your individual-self and is using negative language. To turn it around, focus on positive language and positive actionable behaviors. Instead of resolving to lose weight, resolve to choose at least one healthy meal and snack a day to replace the bag of chips for dinner and tub of ice cream for a late night snack. Choosing to eat one healthy meal and one healthy snack a day is a specific, measurable, and reasonable promise for an individual who may otherwise fill their day with unhealthy eating habits.
After a day, a week, or a month of practicing this positive behavior change, re-evaluate. Maybe you’re realizing some days you don’t choose the healthy meal and snack and some days you do. Think about the days you are successful and the circumstances surrounding your success. Are those days successful because you prepared with an apple in your handbag and an already made decision to not join co-workers for lunch out? Are other days not successful because you were in a hurry, didn’t pack your lunch, and it was your co-worker’s birthday celebration at the office?
Identifying specifics about what makes your goal achievable or not is a step in removing the barriers you will inevitably encounter. Go back to the 4 Steps to Choosing a New Year’s Resolution and utilize those steps to create smaller goals of positive behavior change to lead yourself around the barriers and back on the path of achieving your specific New Year’s Resolution.
As you continue to self-evaluate on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, you’ll find moments when it’s working! Celebrate those moments and revel in the good feelings. It’s okay to feel good about yourself. It’s necessary to feel good about yourself!
With consistent positive focus on making positive behavior changes, you will achieve your goal and will maintain it as it’s no longer a goal but now a positive and healthy habit that’s become routine in your new life. Go back again to the 4 Steps to Choosing a New Year’s Resolution and create yourself a new goal, a new habit, and a new positive behavior change for a continuously evolving, new you.
