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- Jul 13, 2018
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So after being here on the forum for just over a year, I wanted to write this up and share it with many of my friends and family. Thought I'd share it here, too (even though it's probably preaching to the choir and not directly aimed at TFF members). Enjoy!
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New Year’s Resolutions are Pointless.
Here’s why you should make one.
It’s about that time of year, again. The time of year where you swear to exercise every day, eat healthily, lose weight, pick up a new skill, or control your spending. Which means in a couple of weeks it will be time for you to abandon those efforts and go back to your normal life.
It’s quite a popular fact that many New Year’s resolutions fail.
Actually, almost everyone fails at their New Year’s resolutions. Only 8% of people succeed. Most people quit by January 12th. That’s astonishingly bad.
Researchers believe that this is for several reasons:
Most people set goals because it’s the new year
Duh…
That’s the point of these ritualistic resolutions.
With a new year comes a new beginning and a new you. At least that’s what most people think when they set resolutions.
Yet, that has one huge flaw…
Change is not a decision or a destination. It’s a process
Let’s look at the most popular New Year’s resolutions. Specifically, what you need to do to achieve them.
So when you set a New Year’s resolution and are imagining the “new you,” you have automatically failed. You’re viewing change as an event, not a process.
Focus on the process, and the change will come.
Here’s why you should set a New Year’s resolution
Change and self-improvement is a constant process. You’ve probably gathered that by now.
But it’s the new year. So should you set a New Year’s resolution? Yes.
Just because it’s the new year doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set a goal. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t become a better, healthier, smarter person. Setting a goal is the first step to getting better.
Just don’t set a goal because it’s the new year.
Make a New Year’s resolution because you set goals and achieve them. It just happens to be the start of the year. There's no reason to wait until after the new year to get started.
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There are already several threads about New Year's resolutions here on the Forum, so if you want to post your goals ("proclamations"), put them here:
And if you want to read another rant, read this thread:
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New Year’s Resolutions are Pointless.
Here’s why you should make one.
It’s about that time of year, again. The time of year where you swear to exercise every day, eat healthily, lose weight, pick up a new skill, or control your spending. Which means in a couple of weeks it will be time for you to abandon those efforts and go back to your normal life.
It’s quite a popular fact that many New Year’s resolutions fail.
Actually, almost everyone fails at their New Year’s resolutions. Only 8% of people succeed. Most people quit by January 12th. That’s astonishingly bad.
Researchers believe that this is for several reasons:
- Goals are too lofty
- Resolutions aren’t specific
- People focus on the result, not the daily action
- …and many more reasons
Most people set goals because it’s the new year
Duh…
That’s the point of these ritualistic resolutions.
With a new year comes a new beginning and a new you. At least that’s what most people think when they set resolutions.
Yet, that has one huge flaw…
Change is not a decision or a destination. It’s a process
Let’s look at the most popular New Year’s resolutions. Specifically, what you need to do to achieve them.
- Diet or eat healthier (71%): First of all, define why you want to diet. Your diet determines your results, and there are hundreds of “healthier” diets. Then you have to stick with that diet. It takes 3 weeks or more for your gut biome to get used to the diet (meaning 3 weeks before you’ll even like the diet), and often several months before you achieve long-term results.
- Exercise more (65%): It takes 2–3 weeks before you start to feel good from exercising. Until then, it’s often painful and discouraging. And again, for long-term effects, it usually takes several months of exercise.
- Lose weight (54%): Losing weight is a combination of diet and exercise. Though you can easily lose 5–10 pounds of water weight quickly, it often takes months to see long-term weight loss. Are you catching a pattern here?
- Save more and spend less (32%): Depending on your current finances, it can take quite a while for your financial situation to improve. But let’s say you are already good financially and want to build strong habits. Well, habits take 21–60 days to form (depending on which scientific research you cite).
- Learn a new skill (26%): Learning a new skill takes time. To be competent, it often takes 20 hours of practice. Before then, you won’t find it especially rewarding. Being decently good takes 100 hours. Being good enough to teach others takes 1,000 hours. If you practice an hour every day, it will take you weeks to become competent and months to become decently good.
So when you set a New Year’s resolution and are imagining the “new you,” you have automatically failed. You’re viewing change as an event, not a process.
Focus on the process, and the change will come.
Here’s why you should set a New Year’s resolution
Change and self-improvement is a constant process. You’ve probably gathered that by now.
But it’s the new year. So should you set a New Year’s resolution? Yes.
Just because it’s the new year doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set a goal. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t become a better, healthier, smarter person. Setting a goal is the first step to getting better.
Just don’t set a goal because it’s the new year.
Make a New Year’s resolution because you set goals and achieve them. It just happens to be the start of the year. There's no reason to wait until after the new year to get started.
----
There are already several threads about New Year's resolutions here on the Forum, so if you want to post your goals ("proclamations"), put them here:
EXECUTION - What will you accomplish in 2020? <-- Well did u?
Not a New Year's Resolution thread, but a mere proclamation of what you will accomplish in 2020. List one thing, or many. Whatever you resolve to do. Please keep your proclamation measurable! Lose weight is not measurable, lose 50 lbs is! Start a business is not measurable, sell X units is...
www.thefastlaneforum.com
And if you want to read another rant, read this thread:
MINDSET - RANT - New Year's Goals are Stupid
Just a quick rant. Not just for this forum, but society in general. This forum has recently been flooded with 2020 goals. They started a few weeks ago. The second December started, people started setting their goals for 2020. Here's the problem with that: Having a procrastination mindset that...
www.thefastlaneforum.com
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