Why You Didn't Meet Your New Year's Resolutions

So you’ve failed to meet your New Year’s resolutions? Join the club -- the whopping 88% of the population of us. 

But this year was going to be different! New year, new decade, new you, right? You feel like a failure. 

The reality is, New Year’s Resolutions are set up to fail.

Once the holiday cheer, sparkling street lights, and fireworks vanish, you must roll back into your normal work routines. The zest in you fades. Just a few weeks into January… you’ve given up on your gym routine after 3 days of intense weight training, or indulge in a brownie after a couple bites of salad, or succumb to your shopping urges after a week of avoiding malls.

I don’t blame you. 

Morale lowers in January

The month of January is gloomy for a lot of people. In fact, January 24th is supposedly the most depressing day of the year (beating tax day)! Reality hits and now you have to deal with holiday debt. As a result, you have less energy to spend on conquering your list of resolutions. 

Your resolutions are too large and too broad

The hype and optimism around New Year’s is fun, but it may have also clouded your judgment -- thinking on a more grandiose, unrealistic scale. As a result you probably wrote down resolutions that are out of scope with what you can actually accomplish. Change doesn’t happen over a ball drop. Your habits today formed through deep conditioning. While I’m not saying it isn’t possible to change your habits, the journey of doing so is long and difficult.

If your goal was: ‘I want to be healthy’, your resolution is too broad. What does ‘healthy’ mean to you? Losing 10 pounds, gaining muscle, or cutting back on Hot Cheetos? You may start your goal and realize it’s unattainable, because you’re restricting the unlimited number of potential ‘unhealthy’ habits in your life. A smarter goal would be: ‘I am going to run for 10 minutes each day for the next 2 months’.

The point is, you should not beat yourself up for failing to meet your resolutions. It is very noble of you to have marked areas in your life that see improvement and you should appreciate yourself for being self-aware!

My suggestion for next year or really any time you’re setting goals is to start off with just 1 simple goal. Make it specific. Set a deadline. Make it relevant to your life. Measure your progress. And, tell your roommate to nag you about it every day. By next year’s ball drop you’ll be prepared, setting yourself up for success rather than failure. 

Good luck to you!