I’m often encouraging my patients this time of year to drop the concept of new year resolutions because…well… they just don’t work. Instead, we talk about setting a personal theme for the new year in an area where you would like to grow and develop.
First, let’s dive into four reasons why new year resolutions don’t work:
Reason #1: Your resolution is unnatural and/or half-hearted.
A new year means you’re supposed to set a resolution, right? Never mind whether it’s something you truly want or feel strongly about. And that’s the problem with New Year’s resolutions. When you set a resolution “just because”, you’re not all that into it and are setting yourself up for failure from the get-go.
Reason #2: Your resolution is something you “should” be doing.
There’s something about a new year that convinces most people to adopt resolutions they believe they’re supposed to be setting. Your kids have been bugging you about your smoking/vaping habit or your spouse calls it to your attention that you are not working out as often as you used to. You know you “should” make changes. It seems ideal to begin these changes at the beginning of a new year.
But the problem is that, although these are things you should do, you’re not yet ready for them. If you weren’t ready for it before the new year came around, what makes the new year so special?