Making Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick: 5 Top Tips From The Experts
Posted: January 03, 2020
“New Year, New Me!” It’s a slogan that has become so familiar that it’s almost a cliche this time of year, with a torrent of jokes and memes on social media to drive the point home. Most people fail to keep their resolutions, often giving up completely by the time Summer rolls around. As many as 88% of resolutioners are said to abandon the change they sought in January, with as many as 43% lasting less than one month!
Still, science tells us that the new year is a great time to make positive changes in our lives because we are able to dissociate ourselves from our previous habits and better envision ourselves with new patterns and new beginnings. There is a reason why the new year has been a time of goal-setting and vision-casting ever since the ancient Babylonians, thousands of years ago. And with the vast majority of New Year’s resolutions involving health and fitness, it’s never a better time than NOW to find expert tips for success!
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1. SET THE RIGHT GOALS
One of the first mistakes many of us make at resolution time is to set unrealistic or unspecific goals. Either one (or both!) is a recipe for failure. First off, your brain responds well to specificity, so the more clarity you have in your goal-setting, the more likely you will be to envision it and follow through. Secondly, if you set goals that are extremely difficult or just not achievable, it’s literally impossible for you to maintain the necessary dedication to your resolution. LifeHack Magazine says “Make your goals SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely.”
Read More Here.
2. I WILL PERSIST UNTIL I SUCCEED
According to a study by Professor Richard Wiseman at Hertfordshire University in the UK, those with a “fatalistic attitude” were unlikely to succeed. Persistence is the key: Don’t give up! If you blow your diet on day two, simply pick yourself up and begin again tomorrow. See failure as nothing more than a temporary setback. Read More Here.
3. ACCOUNTABILITY
This is a big one! Support from friends, family, community will always help you stick to your goals. We are all more likely to do as we have said we would when we have a spouse, a coach, a gym partner or group of friends invested in our success. We are harnessing the power of social expectations. Interestingly, Professor Wiseman suggests that this accountability may work better for women that men: in his study, men were more likely to “encourage you to have more dessert!” More Here, and Here.
4. KNOW YOUR “WHY”
(AND “WHAT.” AND “HOW,” FOR THAT MATTER)
Let’s be honest. We’ve all set goals because we thought we should, or they were what other people expected of us. In those cases, the chance of success is very low. We don’t really want to do it. We don’t have a good reason why we are doing it. As a result, we probably won’t do it! The key here is to identify what it is you really want, and to know why it’s important to you. No one else can want it for you enough to make you take action. But when you know your “why,” you will encounter almost endless reserves of motivation and dedication. Read More Here.
5. PRACTICE MARTIAL ARTS!
Words like Self-discipline, Focus, and Control are well-known to be nearly synonymous with Martial Arts. Martial Arts helps us develop persistence and perseverance, not only to find victory over life’s serious challenges, but maybe also to say no to that second piece of cake! In fact, Martial arts can help us set better goals with more clarity, to maintain our focus, to stay accountable, and also to discover our “why.” And for children, Martial Arts has also been shown to help with grades, behavior, coordination, confidence and the developmental process!
At UMAC, we want to help members of our community make and keep great resolutions and have their best year yet. That’s why we’re offering this limited special to help you kick the year into gear!
THIS IS OUR GIFT TO YOU, BUT ACT NOW,
BECAUSE CLASSES FILL UP FAST.
You don’t need any previous Martial Arts experience, and you’re welcome to bring a friend!