{"id":4236,"date":"2016-12-16T04:24:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T09:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/?p=4236"},"modified":"2016-12-23T19:19:32","modified_gmt":"2016-12-24T00:19:32","slug":"why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve written previously about trying to make changes that last<\/a>. I’ve recounted how my Mom would coax me into announcing my New Year’s resolutions every year, and no matter how privately I wanted to keep them…she would insist on recording them in her spiral notebook. My terror\u00a0was that she would dredge up\u00a0that notebook and query me\u00a0as to how I was doing. I don’t ever remember her actually asking; for that I will forever be grateful!<\/p>\n

That doesn’t mean that I didn’t fail at most\u00a0of my resolutions, it just means I kept those\u00a0failures personal. I felt\u00a0fortunate to not publicly share those defeats\u00a0with anybody else. They were embarrassing enough by themselves without becoming part of the public record!<\/p>\n

Over the years, I’ve always been interested in why we\u00a0fail at New Year’s resolutions. Seriously, are we all horrendous\u00a0at making positive improvements in our lives?<\/p>\n

Seriously, are we all horrendous\u00a0at making positive improvements in our lives?<\/strong><\/div>\n

Apparently it’s a bit more complicated than that.<\/p>\n

Think back to the resolutions you’ve made in the past. What were they about? Have you made similar resolutions year after year…yet by February you’re mired in the same mess you had all last year? Did you resolve to lose weight, exercise more, or take control of your finances? Those are the three biggies that people make…and I’m just as guilty as the next person\u00a0as having made those resolutions. In fact, many years I’ve made all three and failed miserably…sometimes spectacularly<\/strong>. Then\u00a0I’m getting ready for the ball to drop and I’m promising myself that\u00a0this is the year<\/em> that I’ll come through.<\/p>\n

As if!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So what’s my problem? Why have I gone year after year with these failures? Why have you?<\/p>\n

It’s a popular topic for psychologists to research. One thing that’s clear is nearly 50% of us make New Year’s resolutions each and every year. While none of the research states\u00a0it this obviously, we’re really crappy at making resolutions. Colossally crappy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I know, not news!<\/p>\n

Probably the biggest reason we’re so bad, is we’re totally unrealistic. We say we’re\u00a0resolved<\/em> to do something, but then we don’t take action. We really just espouse a\u00a0hope<\/em> for the upcoming year and fail to give ourselves a way to measure it. And since the\u00a0hope<\/em> is often unrealistic, when the going gets tough we give up<\/strong>. Don’t beat yourself up about it anymore…that describes the vast majority of folks who make resolutions. Like 90% or\u00a0more!<\/p>\n

Two week’s ago I wrote about making changes that last<\/a>. That’s what we’re really talking about here. Trying to set yourself up for success…assuming that you haven’t given up about\u00a0getting better in 2017.<\/p>\n

After reading through all sorts of recommendations, I finally came across a list that is really helpful. I’ve taken some liberties with the wording of the recommendations, if you want to read the original it’s by Ray Williams in his post at Psychology Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To ensure that you’ve got a shot as success:<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • Focus on one resolution or target<\/li>\n
  • Make it\u00a0a\u00a0realistic, specific target<\/li>\n
  • Don’t wait for a magical day<\/em> (like New Year’s Eve), you can start\u00a0today<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Look at this as a process that will last all year<\/li>\n
  • Make your initial target achievable in a short amount of time. If you have a\u00a0big hairy goal<\/strong> you want to achieve, break it down into 12 smaller targets, one for each month. Then work like crazy towards the immediate target. Small steps along the way are the pathway to success!<\/li>\n
  • Find somebody to be accountable to, someone who’s not going to accept your excuses (oops, I mean\u00a0reasons<\/em> LOL)<\/li>\n
  • Celebrate your success as you reach each milestone, don’t put off the celebration until the end of the year<\/li>\n
  • Focus on the present. What can you do\u00a0today<\/strong> that will move you closer to that goal. If losing 3 pounds by the end of the month\u00a0is the goal, do you\u00a0really<\/em> need those other two slices of pizza? Really?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The good news is, you’ve got time to set\u00a0one<\/strong> target for January. You can set that target today and start working on it right now. Seriously, why wait?<\/strong> Figure out something that’s been driving you nuts. One of those little pains that you’ve been\u00a0meaning to change<\/em> but haven’t gotten around to. Make the target as specific as possible. Then go into your reminders app or your calendar and put in a note to yourself to see where you stand in a month.<\/p>\n

    If you can set one target and achieve it, won’t you be better off than all the year’s before? I know I would be!<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I’ve written previously about trying to make changes that last. I’ve recounted how my Mom would coax me into announcing my New Year’s resolutions every year, and no matter how privately I wanted to keep them…she would insist on recording them in her spiral notebook. My terror\u00a0was that she would dredge up\u00a0that notebook and query […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4306,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[137,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-approaches","category-productivity"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Do New Year's Resolutions Fail? -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Do New Year's Resolutions Fail? -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’ve written previously about trying to make changes that last. I’ve recounted how my Mom would coax me into announcing my New Year’s resolutions every year, and no matter how privately I wanted to keep them…she would insist on recording them in her spiral notebook. My terror\u00a0was that she would dredge up\u00a0that notebook and query […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-16T09:24:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-24T00:19:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"HecticDad\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"HecticDad\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"HecticDad\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#\/schema\/person\/9363b57936e239608f889fc72fe9fc3b\"},\"headline\":\"Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-16T09:24:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-24T00:19:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/\"},\"wordCount\":793,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Approaches\",\"Productivity\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/\",\"name\":\"Why Do New Year's Resolutions Fail? -\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-16T09:24:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-24T00:19:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#\/schema\/person\/9363b57936e239608f889fc72fe9fc3b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1\",\"width\":640,\"height\":426},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"description\":\"It's a hectic life, but somebody has to blog about it.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#\/schema\/person\/9363b57936e239608f889fc72fe9fc3b\",\"name\":\"HecticDad\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/451d329704a0194a98f84b0d783a6073fdac032fe1397b2dd17d56208274b0ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/451d329704a0194a98f84b0d783a6073fdac032fe1397b2dd17d56208274b0ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"HecticDad\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/author\/hecticdad\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Do New Year's Resolutions Fail? -","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Do New Year's Resolutions Fail? -","og_description":"I’ve written previously about trying to make changes that last. I’ve recounted how my Mom would coax me into announcing my New Year’s resolutions every year, and no matter how privately I wanted to keep them…she would insist on recording them in her spiral notebook. My terror\u00a0was that she would dredge up\u00a0that notebook and query […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/","article_published_time":"2016-12-16T09:24:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-24T00:19:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":426,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"HecticDad","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"HecticDad","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/"},"author":{"name":"HecticDad","@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#\/schema\/person\/9363b57936e239608f889fc72fe9fc3b"},"headline":"Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail?","datePublished":"2016-12-16T09:24:34+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-24T00:19:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/"},"wordCount":793,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1","articleSection":["Approaches","Productivity"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/","name":"Why Do New Year's Resolutions Fail? -","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1","datePublished":"2016-12-16T09:24:34+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-24T00:19:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#\/schema\/person\/9363b57936e239608f889fc72fe9fc3b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1","width":640,"height":426},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/why-do-new-years-resolutions-fail\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Do New Year’s Resolutions Fail?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/","name":"","description":"It's a hectic life, but somebody has to blog about it.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#\/schema\/person\/9363b57936e239608f889fc72fe9fc3b","name":"HecticDad","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/451d329704a0194a98f84b0d783a6073fdac032fe1397b2dd17d56208274b0ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/451d329704a0194a98f84b0d783a6073fdac032fe1397b2dd17d56208274b0ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"HecticDad"},"url":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/author\/hecticdad\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mistake-876597_640.jpg?fit=640%2C426&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5mM9z-16k","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4236"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4312,"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4236\/revisions\/4312"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hectic-dad.com\/hectic-dad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}