It is that time of year again. The gyms are packed, you start waking up at five, more people are in the vegetable section of grocery stores, and the air is full of possibilities. Society has designated January the mark of a new year, and New Year’s resolutions are all we begin to obsess about this month. A new year, a fresh start, and a new beginning are all we need to try to better ourselves by setting up some goals we want to accomplish. However, the issue lies after the first week or two of January. Then comes the distinct difference between a resolution and a habit. At some point towards the end of January, people eventually don’t feel that crisp air of possibility and motivation, and give up. What people fail to understand is that a resolution must become a habit to become sustainable and achievable. So my advice to you is that if you were thinking of making resolutions or have already made them – scratch that. You need to make actionable goals and set a plan to incorporate habits into your daily life. Now here is my step-by-step process for creating habits from resolutions:
1. Now, this might seem contradictory, but stay with me here. Take out a piece of paper or your device and start listing out your resolutions. Yes, you heard me right. We have been wired to think about resolutions and use them as a basis to accomplish our goals. However, the more effective method is to use them as a starting point. So start somewhere. Whether it is something general like “exercise more” or something specific like “drink 5 cups of water a day”, jot it down.Â
2. We have created a list to begin with. Now comes the part where you need to be realistic. At this point, you need to be harsh with yourself and think, “Will I actually really be able to do this?” We all want to exercise every day, read a book a week, and sleep eight hours. Yet, the reality is our lifestyle, job, or other responsibilities might not allow for that. So, instead of giving up, at this point you need to adjust. Maybe you can’t exercise every day, but you could go for a walk three days a week. For this step, it would help to have an open schedule, so you can see where you can incorporate certain habits.
3. Now that we have our specifically tailored resolutions, it’s time to turn them into habits. To do this, you need to track the number of times you repeat a habit. We have all seen the studies that say for an action to become habitual, you need to repeat it. Humans are a species of habit – the more we do things, the more automatic our responses will be. Thus, to maintain a habit, you first need to track and ensure you are repeating the action you have set up for yourself. There are so many ways you can do this, either on paper or digitally. Some resources you can use are Notion, Apps (I use the app Habit), websites, bullet journals, planners, or even the Reminders app on your phone. Test and see what works best for you.
4. Elevate. Turning a goal into a habit is an accomplishment in itself. However, make sure you are continuing to elevate this action. The goal is to use the resolution to develop habits. We set the limit to how much we want to do and accomplish. So push yourself. Set check-ins every three or six months and see how you can improve and elevate your goals. Let’s say you are only eating out once every week, try making it once every two weeks and see if that works. As cliche and cheesy as it sounds, we can truly accomplish anything we put our minds to. So if you’ve made your New Year’s resolutions already, ask yourself are these goals or habits, and if they are simply far-fetched goals, how can you turn them into habits?