Why New Year’s Resolutions Are So Hard to Keep
By: Antonelle Cara
Tags: New Years Resolution, Self Improvement, Mindfulness, Self, Psychology

4 Strategies to Implement When You Have the Motivation but It’s Still Not Enough

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

Maybe you do already have the internal motivation to change but still find yourself unable to stick to your goal. The good news is that you aren’t alone in failing at your New Year’s resolution. Less than 10% of people actually follow through with their resolutions.

If you are one of those people who feel motivated but it just doesn’t seem to be enough to follow through with your goal then it’s time to understand why those resolutions are so hard to follow through with. Once you realize that the first step is to find motivation within yourself and not from an outside factor, there are also other aspects to consider when it comes to making a long-term change.

1. Set yourself up for success.

While having the will to change is the first step, it has been found that those with self-efficacy and incorporated behavioral strategies were more successful with their goals than those who blamed themselves for their failures or set themselves up for disappointment with an unrealistic goal. You have to set a goal that you truly believe you can accomplish, while also using strategies such as positive self-talk and knowing what goals are practical vs. impractical.

Another important note is to only set one goal. If you set more than one, you can start to feel overwhelmed and not follow through with any of them. Focus on one goal and then go from there.

2. Figure out your immediate reward.

Another study found that we won’t make a change solely because of how important it is to us. There has to be some type of immediate reward that we experience in order to maintain it as a habit. So instead of setting a goal to be physically fit in the long term, think about the immediate feeling you will have right after a change of behavior to motivate you to do it daily.

For example, a good workout for the day brings feelings such as accomplishment, productivity, and more energy. If we focus on wanting to feel physically fit and do not get these results immediately, it can make us feel defeated whether or not we realize that this expectation takes time. While the long-term effect is what motivates us to set a goal, it’s the instant benefit of our daily choices that pushes us to continue with our habits.

3. Make your goal a small, tangible daily change.

According to Dr. Weinschenk Ph.D., we also have to focus on the specific changes we should make to our daily habits rather than focusing on the end goal. When we make goals for ourselves, they are about the bigger picture instead of tangible, attainable changes to our daily habits.

Instead of something broad like “eat healthier” which may be too big a hurdle to conquer, you can make it something smaller like eat a salad every day. When we give ourselves a specific goal, it will be easier to stick to because we have created a more practicable expectation from ourselves.

4. Change your self-story.

Dr. Weinschenk Ph.D. also mentions that we have to change the narrative we tell ourselves. If we continue to tell ourselves that we don’t eat healthy and we don’t like salads, then we will be less likely to follow through with a habit change because it doesn’t align with who we think we are. While we are aware that the things we say to ourselves are very important, we can start to neglect how necessary it is to talk positively to ourselves. Something as simple as this can take you one step closer to your goal.