Do Resolutions Even Make Sense?

Jan 3, 2019 | Happiness Fulfillment & Self Esteem

A color photo of a spiral notebook. Written on the top of the page is the text New Year’s Resolutions. Beneath that heading it reads 1 Quit making New Year’s Resolutions. The Lisa Kaplin logo is in the bottom right corner of the photo.

Studies suggest that within a week you will have likely given up on your New Year’s resolution. That’s depressing. Yet look back and ask yourself if you essentially make the same New Year’s resolution every year? “This year I’m going to lose weight.” “This year I’m going to get in shape.” “This year I’m going to get organized.” And so on it goes. Having the same resolution every year is frustrating and honestly, doesn’t really make sense. I’ve met a number of people who don’t make resolutions at all so that they don’t feel as if they’ve failed by January 10th.

So what can you do to achieve those goals other than an unlikely-to-succeed resolution? What if you picked one small behavioral change and committed to doing that for a whole month? Each month you could add another behavior and by the end of the year you will have made twelve new behavioral changes versus failing at one big resolution. What if instead of resolving to lose weight, you choose to add one vegetable a day to your diet? That’s it, one vegetable a day. Do it for a month and see how you feel. Then the next month you might want to remove one unhealthy food from your diet each day and then progress from there.

Instead of resolutions, what if you picked one small behavioral change & committed to it for a month? Each month add another behavior & by next year you will have 12 new changes v. 1 failed resolution. #resolutions #newyear Click To Tweet

Think about why resolutions fail. They fail because they are too big, too unclear, and lacking a plan. A small behavioral change is none of those things. Some people like to do a start/stop behavior each month. One thing they will start doing and one that they will stop doing for a whole month. That might be a good plan for you as well. Look at what your usual big resolution is and pick something small and manageable to do right now. That small goal will feel like success and lead to more success.

Resolutions are kind of fun to make as we enter a new year, yet history tells us they typically aren’t achieved. Why not turn that around and make some changes that do make sense? Let me know how you do. 

Happy 2019!

Love,

Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. CPC

Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. PCC

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