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The 7 Deadly Sins of Setting Your New Year’s Resolutions

Takeaways:

While the idea of a New Year’s Resolution is based on a healthy impulse– the need for self-improvement– setting them irresponsibly can also set you up for deflating failure. This article details seven common mistakes people make when setting their resolutions. These mistakes are:

1. Setting a non-specific goal: To increase the likelihood of success in a new year’s resolution, it is important to define specific and achievable goals. Start with small steps rather than trying to make huge leaps.
2. Failing to consider why you’re making a resolution: It is important to have a clear and concrete reason for making a New Year’s resolution, so that it is easier to stay motivated and avoid making resolutions just for the sake of it. Writing down the goal will make it more concrete– and achievable.
3. Making goals too restrictive: Attempts at self-restriction are difficult to maintain because people often see them as a loss of freedom, which can be overcome by indulging in the behavior that is being prohibited. Using positive language when setting resolutions, such as specifying actions to take rather than actions to avoid, may be more successful in achieving the desired goal.
4. Not changing your environment: Success can be increased by making changes to one’s environment that support the desired behavior. For example, replacing unhealthy food with healthy options and surrounding oneself with people who engage in healthy behaviors can make it easier to adopt healthy habits.
5. Setting a HUGE goal: While it may be thrilling to say, “On Jan 1, I’m never eating fast food AGAIN!” It is not realistic. It is more effective to focus on making small, incremental changes towards a single goal rather than trying to overhaul one’s entire life. It is better to make progress towards a goal, even if it is a small amount, than to set ambitious goals that are difficult to achieve and potentially lead to feelings of failure.
6. Not using your support network: It can be especially beneficial to let trusted people know about one’s goals and plans and to enlist their help in staying accountable. Having accountability partners or friends working towards similar goals can also make it easier to stay motivated and achieve success.
7. Feeling Guilty for Failing: Setbacks and challenges are a normal part of the process of working towards a goal and should not be seen as a reason to give up entirely. It is important to be kind to oneself and recognize that achieving a goal can be difficult!

From Stephen Johnson for Lifehacker:
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