The Obligatory New Year’s Resolution Post
Well it is that time of year when we all think about the things we want to improve on and make our personal promises to ensure that we achieve these things in the upcoming year. The idea that the New Year brings a new opportunity to improve ourselves is one that goes back generations. However, what also goes back that far is the fact that most people fail to achieve these resolutions and indeed often fail within the first days and weeks of the New Year.
One could argue that resolutions are nothing more than attempting behavioural changes on our own. Now behavioural psychologists will say it takes between 3 weeks and 60 days to create a behaviour. This is a reasonable amount of time, but it requires discipline and motivation to achieve this. For many resolutions it is more about what others tell us we should change about ourselves, which is an extrinsic motivation, which means that our desire to achieve them is considerably less than if we decided that the changes were truly what we desire for ourselves.
If you are going to make resolutions this year, choose something that is important to you and for your life, this will increase your chances of success. If, after doing this, you are still struggling you might want to employ a therapist to help you reach your goals.
