So what happened to your New Year resolutions?!

It’s that time of year when the realisation hits many of us that our New Year resolutions are not going well!

Recent research by GoCompare revealed the top ten most common resolutions for 2022 were:

• Lose weight.
• Eat a healthier diet.
• Get fitter and do more exercise.
• Spend more quality time with family and friends.
• Take better care of mental health
• Sort out finances and reduce spending.
• Travel more.
• Start a new hobby, sport or other interest.
• Be more environmentally-conscious.
• Start planning to change jobs.

Perhaps some of your resolutions are on the above list, or maybe you have a couple that are completely different. But if you are struggling perhaps to keep any of your resolutions at all, it’s not too late to give them another go.

In this article we look at four ways to keep your New Year resolutions.

Make sure your resolutions are achievable

At the beginning of a new year, anything can seem possible. Perhaps this is especially the case if you’ve managed to take some time off work over Christmas, and so are away from the normal pressures and routines of everyday life.

In this context you may make a list of ambitious resolutions that describe the way you would like your life to be by the end of the year. But if those resolutions are too ambitious, you are almost bound to abandon them once you get back to the reality of business as usual.

It will be much more motivating to set goals that you are likely to be able to achieve. And if you do achieve one of your initial goals, you can always then set yourself another one.

So for example, you may decide you want to lose 3 stone and run a marathon this year. Both those things are possible, but they are very daunting. It could be better to aim for smaller goals – for example lose half a stone and run 5k – and if you manage to do those successfully then set new increased goals such as losing a stone and running 10k.

Little by little can help you get to where you want to be, one small step at a time.

Don’t try make too many changes all at once

Another reason why our resolutions often fail is that we try to do them all at once. For example, if you had the above list of ten resolutions and tried to make them all happen in January, you would run out of steam pretty quickly. It is usually far better to focus on a smaller number at a time. 

The concept of working memory relates to the amount of information we can actively retain and process in our minds over short timescales. It’s estimated that working memory has a fixed capacity of around three or four items. 

So it makes sense to limit the number of changes you are trying to make. Perhaps focus on just one or two at a time, to give them your full attention. This also ensures that your resolutions have the time to become a habit, which gives them an even greater chance of success. 

Let’s take a look . . . 

Take time to create new habits

An estimated 45%-95% of everything we do is based on habits. But how long does it take to develop a habit? 

Scientific research shows that it can take anywhere between 18 to 254 days to develop a habit. But the average is thought to be 66 days. So if you work on the basis of 66 days, you should really allow at least a couple of months for each resolution to become firmly ingrained as habits in your daily life. Which is another good reason for not trying to do more than a couple at a time.

So if you did have a list of 10 resolutions like the one above, you could start a couple in January, then gradually phase in the rest from around March onwards.

Psychologists suggest that you build in small rewards when developing your new habit. There need to be some tangible rewards as well as the end goal itself. So set yourself mini goals along the way, and treat yourself with something nice when you reach them. 

For example:

• Buy yourself a little something you’ve wanted for a while.
• Watch a movie you’ve really been looking forward to seeing.
• Have a day out somewhere nice.
• Visit a museum or gallery that interests you.
• Book a spa session or therapy treatment.
• Head out for coffee or drinks with your favourite people.
• Take a day or afternoon off for yourself to do exactly what you feel like doing.

There are also a growing number of apps designed to help you develop and keep new habits. Some examples are:

• SnapHabit – enables you to work on new habits and share with your friends and family.
• Habitica – encourages you to “have fun when you get things done”.
• Strides – track all your goals and habits in one place.

So, use all the resources at your disposal to make your resolution a habit, and increase your chance of success.

Be open to changing your plans to achieve the same goals

The last thing to mention when it comes to making resolutions work is that it’s good to be flexible. There may be many different ways of achieving your goals, and some will work better for you than others. So at some point you may decide to change the means to achieve the end. 

For example, if you want to lose weight you may start off by following a particular weight loss regime and have some initial success, but this then tails off. Don’t give up on your goal: you may just need to try a different diet instead. 

Or if your goal is to get fit but you are not having much success with your chosen form of exercise, then why not change it? Different things work for different people. So, for example, if you have tried running and are not enjoying it then look for different types of exercise such as dance classes, team sports, swimming, cycling or walking instead.

So if your progress towards your goal is stalling for any reason, don’t change the goal; change the way you are trying to achieve it. 

We hope that this article encourages you to reboot your New Year resolutions and start making better progress towards them. If you need a financial boost to help you move forward, remember that Loans 2 Go offer short term loans that may be able to help.

Check back here soon for more financial and lifestyle tips from Loans 2 Go.