Here’s Why Most Of Us Fail To Achieve Our New Year Resolutions By The End Of The Year

Only 8% of us will manage to follow through with our New Year’s resolutions by the end of the year. A third of us will have already broken our resolutions by the 7th of January. By ‘sinful Saturday’ about half of us will have totally abandoned our resolutions altogether.

Every year, this vicious cycle repeats. We set ourselves up for a ‘new year, new me’, give up on all of it before the end of the first month and decide to set the same resolution at the end of the year.

 What seems to be the issue?

According to a paper in the American Psychologist written by Professor Peter Herman, a lecturer at the University of Toronto, we fail to stick to our resolutions because in most cases, they are simply too ambitious and sometimes downright unrealistic.

“I will follow a strict diet and Get 6-pack abs by the end of the year. If Aamir Khan did it, so can I!”

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That’s the kind of resolution that goes out the window as soon as you decide to go out for dinner on the first weekend of January.


It’s often important to scale back your resolutions to something more manageable.


 

According to Rachel Weinstein, a psychotherapist and co-director of the Portland, Maine-based Adulting School: 

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“Changes happen in small steps over time.”

Take a small step and gradually approach your end goal instead of setting your sights on the ultimate result right from the start.

 

1. Reduce your sweet intake to once a week instead of deciding to cut out sugar from your diet altogether.

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A sudden and complete stoppage of sugary treats is only going to multiply your cravings and raise your chances of falling off the waggon.

 

2. Start with a morning jog each day before you decide to sign yourself up for a power-packed intensive body transformation routine at the gym.

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The pangs you get from an intense workout will only do more to discourage you from continuing the routine. Start with a jog and get your body accustomed to physical activity before diving into a more intense regime.

 

3. Start with regular blog posts before you decide to pen down a 10,000-page memoir about your entire life.

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You’re much more likely to suffer from writer’s block while typing out a 10,000-page book than a blog post. Start small.


Once you implement these small steps and begin to see success, you’ll be more likely to keep at it and gradually move closer to your ultimate goal.


 

According to Joseph Luciani, a psychologist who focuses on self-coaching techniques:

“The more you start to accumulate success the more you start to see yourself differently.”

 

This week, Standard Chartered Bank, India took a first step towards making every commute hassle free on the buses in Mumbai. There are an overwhelming amount of bus routes. The stop names on these routes are not the easiest to remember. Safe to say using the bus in Mumbai is a challenge.

To make the commute easier, the company has installed smart screens at a bus stop which provide every commuter access to a whole host of transport information ranging from bus routes and stops to availability and timings. Now that’s a brilliant first step towards improving the daily commute for millions of bus users across the city.

To make the commute easier, the company has installed smart screens at a bus stop which provide every commuter access to a whole host of transport information ranging from bus routes and stops to availability and timings. Now that’s a brilliant first step towards improving the daily commute for millions of bus users across the city.

 

Standard Chartered Bank’s #OneStepCloser campaign echoes this thought.

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It believes that the beginning is always the most difficult part. Once you begin, you’re already a step closer to your ultimate goal.

 

This New Year, Standard Chartered Bank is encouraging everyone to share their goals and celebrate the first step. Go on, share away, and you’ll already be #OneStepCloser to your goal.


You can be a part of this massive movement by clicking here.


 

Fact Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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This story is brought to you in association with Standard Chartered Bank, India

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