If you are looking to turn over a new leaf in 2019, you are not alone. Millions of people make resolutions year after year. Marketers know it, as they roll out their commercials and ads geared towards making change and starting new things. Facebook makes us a personalized and heartfelt video, reflecting on activity from the past year that makes us strangely emotional. Retailers begin bringing their exercise equipment to the front of the store before we’ve even had a chance to finish our Christmas tins full of goodies from the neighbors!
The popular song that many of us sing as the ball drops, “Auld Lang Syne”, means “Old Long Since”. In other words, out with the old and in with the new! A few popular resolutions we see each year are…
- Losing weight
- Save more
- Spend less
- Quit smoking
- More family time
- Get organized
While all of these things seem great, the unfortunate reality is that not many people stick to these. Research shows that only 8% of people actually stick to their resolutions! Some habits are just hard to break. Some resolutions are unrealistic. How do we crack the code and make a change?
- Setting more reasonable goals for ourselves might help us bring that percentage up by the end of 2019. Instead of saying, “ I am going to lose weight”, try making your goal measurable. “I’m going to lose 15 pounds.”
- Give your goals a timeline. If you want to lose a certain amount of weight in 2019 as a whole, set up quarterly or even monthly numeric goals.
- Establishing an accountability partner. It’s so comforting to know that someone else is experiencing the same difficulties and successes you are!
- Don’t give up! Keep in mind when making and working at your resolutions, change takes time. When you do mess up, pick yourself back up and start again. Any progress is better than no progress.
Another lyric in Auld Lang Syne is “We’ll take a cup of kindness yet”, which refers to raising a glass with a good friend, toasting to the new year and saying farewell to the past year. Whether you make a resolution or not, 2019 is so close, and that’s something to celebrate. Happy New Year!