How Are Those Resolutions Going? And Why It Might Not Be as Bad as You Think.

If you follow me at all, you know I'm not a big fan of new year resolutions. But I know many people do set new goals as the calendar changes and so I thought I would check in with those of you who do.

My motivation for addressing this subject is I'm afraid many have been mislead to believe that they have given themselves enough time to succeed or fail...and have then either kept going or already given up; based on a false conclusion.

We all know the statistics around how quickly most resolutions are broken before March. I've read that 80% are broken by mind-February.

But is this really true?

I'm not questioning the statistic but the conclusion.

Let me share an example to illustrate.

Let's say in order to get healthier you resolved to workout 3 times a week, drink 8 glasses of water daily and eat healthy 80% of the time.

Now let's assume that after a consistent start to the new year, looking back, there were weeks you missed one or even two workouts, days you drank 1 glass of water and spent an entire weekend binging on burgers, fries and pizza.

Is your resolution broken?

Maybe, maybe not.

I would agree that if you stopped working out altogether, and stopped drinking water and began to eat unhealthy food, 80% of the time, then sure, maybe your resolution is broken.

But if you worked out 1-3 times a week, averaged 3-4 glasses of water over time and still ate healthy more than you didn't, then maybe you're still on track.

One Myth We Need to Discard

Do you know about the 21-day rule? Basically it says, if you do something for 21 days in a row, you will have created a new habit.

But here's the problem. Most of what you resolved to do was never meant to be done 21 days in a row.

I've come across research that suggests the time it takes to form a new habit is a range from 18-254 days; depending on the person and the behaviour being changed.

When it comes to health & fitness, I believe it takes months and months to gain consistency and begin to see the results you want.

What this implies...

Maybe you can't know by mid-February whether you have broken a new year resolution

Life is complicated, and many things can show up out of nowhere making doing something for 21 days in a row unrealistic.

We need a long-term view to assess our success or failure.

Maybe failure is less a part of the equation in the first place.

Maybe something is better than nothing and your resolution isn't broken at all.

What do you think?

Maybe you are further along than you thought. Maybe you haven't failed.

Maybe, you just need to keep going!

Until next time - Dan