{"id":43866,"date":"2019-01-03T09:13:53","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T09:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/?p=43866"},"modified":"2025-02-12T09:47:22","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T09:47:22","slug":"why-new-years-resolutions-suck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusme.com\/blog\/why-new-years-resolutions-suck\/","title":{"rendered":"FocusMe\u2019s Big \u2018Why New Year\u2019s Resolutions Suck\u2019- Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

First of all – Happy New Year!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It took us 365 days to get here, but we\u2019ve finally arrived. It is officially the year 2019. (That\u2019s the highest number year ever!) We hope 2018 has been kind to you, and that 2019 will be equally awesome, if not more.<\/p>\n

As it is with every new year, many people have probably made a few New Years\u2019 resolutions – some vague goal that they hope to achieve in the next year. Most of the time, these resolutions are about dieting, losing weight, building muscle, looking fitter. All of this with summer in mind, of course.<\/p>\n

People usually make these kind of resolutions around the beginning of December or in the midst of it – right before the holiday\u2019s gorging feasts.<\/p>\n

The attentive mind will notice instantly that these promises are just another form of procrastination. \u2018I\u2019m not going to diet now, I\u2019m going to diet next month, right after deliberately stuffing myself with food and gaining five pounds in only a week.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Now, you might have guessed it from the title: I\u2019m going to advise you not to make any new year\u2019s resolutions. Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

New Year\u2019s Resolutions = Doomed To Fail<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Yes, that\u2019s Doomed with Capital D.<\/p>\n

LET ME REPEAT IT TO YOU ONE MORE TIME: <\/strong><\/p>\n

DOOMED TO FAIL<\/strong><\/p>\n

The main reason I\u2019m telling you to stay away from New Year\u2019s Resolutions is because they simply don\u2019t work. This is a fact that has been proven time and time again. New Year\u2019s resolutions are great at making you feel good and instilling optimism (next year will be awesome!). But most of the time when people start them, they start out enthousiastic and then tend do overdo things. Soon, they start to burn out and lose interest.<\/p>\n

I know these things because I was like that. Mind you, it wasn\u2019t only in the New Year that I said to myself: I will do \u2018insert some vague thing\u2019<\/em>. These were things like: learn to play guitar. Learn a new language. \u2018Graduate magna cum laude\u2019. (the last one never happened, by the way).<\/p>\n

This may sound a bit funny at first, but in reality, it\u2019s really not. These vague goals, from their very nature, automatically lead to failure. And over time these failures accumulate and roll up from a little \u2018failure snowball\u2019 into a huge \u2018Loser Avalanche\u2019.<\/p>\n

In the end, you\u2019ll lose confidence in your abilities, and you won\u2019t be able to finish anything anymore. \u2018Why should I try to study hard, I can never keep it up anyway.\u2019 <\/em>Or, \u2018I started writing a novel before but I wasn\u2019t even able to get to ten thousand words, so I might as well not try again\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

As you can see, these are not productive attitudes. Failure simply leads to more failure. Because of that, New Year\u2019s Resolutions are absolutely not as innocent as they look. They can have very negative consequences when you fail to follow through on them. As opposed to that, when you do succeed, successes will accumulate and you\u2019ll gain massive self-confidence. Self-confidence will give you the courage to try out new things and succeed in those too.<\/p>\n

If these goals are that important to you, start right away<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Another thing I\u2019d like to say is: if you have this goal, and it\u2019s really important to you, it\u2019s something that you really want to accomplish, why would you even wait to start? There\u2019s no magical boost you get by delaying things until next month. On the contrary, if you delay now, you keep developing the habit of procrastination and you\u2019ll end up accomplishing nothing.<\/p>\n

Maybe you need to rethink your priorities. Sit down for ten minutes, and really think: why am I making this resolution? How will it benefit me? How will my life improve if I complete this goal?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Visualize the rewards (or \u2018presents\u2019) you get for completing your goals<\/em><\/p>\n

Think of the reward that you\u2019ll get by completing your goal. Think of how people will compliment on how good you look as a result of your diet and exercise regime. Think of the awesome job you\u2019ll land thanks to your great academic results. Think of the general acclaim you\u2019ll receive and the sense of achievement you\u2019ll feel when you finish your novel (maybe the money, but that\u2019s usually not a good motivation for novelists). Try to really visualize these and think of how good you would feel through your accomplishments.<\/p>\n

Without a why, a what is worth nothing. And if you can think of a strong enough \u2018why\u2019, you\u2019ll also be more eager to start earlier, way before January 1st.<\/p>\n

Setting goals the right way<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The goals people set in their New Year\u2019s resolution are usually not specific enough.<\/p>\n

If you want to achieve a goal in the future, don\u2019t make vague promises to yourself. Don\u2019t talk about the results – writing a novel next year, achieving a professional goal, or getting top scores on your exams. Instead, create measurable habits. Write 500 words a day (anyone can do that), do three workouts a week, take an hour every day to study your coursework. Something like that.<\/p>\n

To be even more specific, also try to specify a time frame to complete your goal. Just saying \u2018I\u2019ll do X next year\u2019 won\u2019t cut it. \u2018Next year\u2019 can be any time. When you say \u2018next year\u2019, you really set the door open for procrastination<\/a>. It could already be June and you could still say \u2018I\u2019ve still got six months left\u2019. Then, before you know it, it\u2019s December and another New Year is around the corner. \u2018Well, guess it\u2019s time to renew those New Year\u2019s promises.\u2019<\/em> With most likely the same results: nothing, nada, zero.<\/p>\n

A better time frame might be \u2018the next hundred days\u2019. This is a very specific time frame, but you still have to combine it with a specific habit.<\/p>\n

A classic management mantra is: what gets measured, gets managed. Do measurable things, so results will automatically follow. You\u2019ll finish a 100.000 word novel in around 200 days (a little bit over half a year, leaving you ample time to edit and rewrite), you\u2019ll at least lose a few pounds every month (if your eating habits are in order) and you\u2019ll probably get good grades if you did your homework each day.<\/p>\n


\nErnest Hemingway said he only wrote 500 words each day. So don\u2019t feel guilty if that\u2019s your own word count. (but to be fair, his were probably very good words)<\/em><\/p>\n

And don\u2019t try to do too much. That\u2019s another critical element of failure. Potential novel writers will try writing over two thousand words each day. Dieters will cut their calories to a thousand per day and do grueling daily workouts. Students will try to study for hours and hours on end. Be realistic – few people can keep that up. Maybe some people can, but it\u2019s best not to test yourself and set yourself up for failure. Start off slow. Eat the elephant, one small piece at a time.<\/p>\n

And, if you can handle this with ease, you can try to take bigger bites.<\/p>\n

To conclude<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In short – instead of vague new year\u2019s promises to yourself that you\u2019re not going to be able to keep, make realistic goals for yourself, goals that will produce real results. Make goals that you actually care about and be sure you know why you want to accomplish them. And maybe the most important part: don\u2019t waste time and start right now<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Do this, and you\u2019re on the right path to a better, a happier and a more fulfilling life.<\/p>\n

From the FocusMe<\/a> team, we all wish you a fantastic 2019! May all of your dreams come true!<\/p>\n

Signing off,<\/p>\n

Jon<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First of all – Happy New Year! It took us 365 days to get here, but we\u2019ve finally arrived. It is officially the year 2019. (That\u2019s the highest number year ever!) We hope 2018 has been kind to you, and that 2019 will be equally awesome, if not more. As it is with every new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":43867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,8],"tags":[10,32],"class_list":["post-43866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-habits","category-productivity","tag-productivity","tag-time-management"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy New Year's Resolutions Fail: Start Now!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New Year's resolutions often fail due to vague goals. 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