Advice: Why New Year's Resolutions Fail?

Someone wise once said very rightly, “A
New Year’s resolution is something that
goes in one year and out the other”.
It is that time of the year again when many
of us decide to turn over a new leaf and
start anew. As we bid farewell to another
year, we make resolutions in the hope of
bringing a radical change in our way of
living. The most common resolutions
include weight loss, giving more time to
studies and spending quality time with near
and dear ones instead of remaining stuck to
computer screens.
Often, in spite of our best intentions, our
resolutions fail. The first three weeks of
January go by smoothly. But by February,
most of us revert to our old lifestyle. In fact,
statistics show that 88 per cent of all
resolutions are unsuccessful. Why is this?
Firstly, we make too many resolutions all at
once. Resolving to lose weight together with
quitting Facebooking, for example, gets too
much for the brain to handle. The brain has
certain limitations, which when we try to
stretch, can have disastrous impacts. Too
many resolutions overpower the brain and it
ends up getting tired.
This reduces the thinking capacity of the
brain, thus lowering our level of self-control
and willpower. Thus, we would be less likely
to resist cravings of pizza or spending less
time playing computer games or chatting on
the net or phone.
According to an experiment, conducted by
Professor Shiv at Stanford University, two
groups of undergraduates were given the
task of remembering numbers. One group
had to remember only two-digit numbers
while the second group had to remember a
seven-digit number.
They were then led down a hall where they
were presented with two different snack
choices — a slice of chocolate cake or a
bowl of fruit salad. The results showed that
the students who were given seven-digit
numbers to remember were twice as likely
to choose the cake as students who were
given only two-digits. Professor Shiv
explained these findings by reasoning that
the extra numbers took up more space in
the brain, thus weakening willpower and
making it much more difficult to resist the
craving of an unhealthy dessert.
Secondly, most of the New Year’s
resolutions are made often on the spur of
the moment. They are not given much
thought all year long and most people
decide to make resolutions as the year is
nearing its end. Most of the time, people
make resolutions just for the sake of being
in the spirit of celebrating a new year. More
often than not, these resolutions are left for
the 11th hour and conjured up on New
Year’s Eve! This strategy results in
resolutions that are often unrealistic and
impossible to achieve.
These poorly thought out resolutions not
only fail, but often damage one’s self-
esteem.
Thirdly, we tend to give too much
importance to resolutions. We assume that
our life depends on achieving those goals
and it would be meaningless if we do not
succeed. We think that our entire life will
change drastically and dramatically, and
when it does not, we get discouraged and
revert to our old patterns and routines.
For more effective New Year’s resolutions,
we must keep a few points in mind. We
should make realistic, specific and well
thought out goals. Losing 10 pounds in 90
days is a more specific goal as compared to
just losing weight. We should focus on one
resolution rather than several and should
not wait for New Year’s Eve to resolve to do
something; it should be a year long process.
Finally, we should break down the main
resolution into smaller and more achievable
tasks. After each milestone is successfully
achieved, we must reward ourselves and
celebrate our accomplishment no matter
how small.
Lastly, and most importantly, we must
remember to have fun in the process of
achieving our resolutions. We should not
take ourselves very seriously.
Mistakes are unavoidable, and when we do
something incorrectly, we must remember
not to punish ourselves severely and even
learn to laugh at our mistakes every now
and then. That way, we can remain mentally
and physically motivated and not let our
mistakes hold us back from achieving our
goals.


(InpaperMagzine By Mariha Khan).

www.dawn.com/ 2011/12/ 31/advice-
why-new- years-resolutions- fail.html