Why new year resolutions fail and how to continue them?

By- Abhudai Pal

New Year is approaching. You must be excited, rejuvenated, keen to start a new chapter of your life and planning to build habits for the decimation of inner demons.
Isn’t it?
Your New year resolution could be

1-Start Gym regularly

2-Begin Meditation

3-Practice Yoga

4-Study for a specific number of hours in a day

5-Work hard to be the best employee

You must be knowing that many people hold on to their resolutions up to ten days, some twenty and a few up to a whole month. Why many fail, is an interesting subject to delve into? The sparkling curiosity observed on every face of new-year night diminishes as time passes by and you are like, “I am not experiencing any visible benefits of yoga/Meditation/Exercise”. I have wasted my hours exercising, despite watching some entertainment on Netflix or Amazon Prime!

The reason why many fail to complete the New Year resolution could be?

1-Taking many steps at a time.

2-Taking resolution because it is “Trending” and some content is required to be posted on social media with hashtags, #NewYear, #NewVibes, # 2019lifechanging, # Sixpack1month, #Newversion2019.

3-Lacking emotional connection with the resolution.

4-Planning without being practical.

5-Past behavioural experiences.

I always wonder, the one who created the concept of “New-year”, must be a genius, leaving aside scientific explanations of a year, some companies always benefit a lot from such occasions. A prominent one is “AMAZON”.  Every e-commerce company gives huge discounts and successfully vacates their inventories of old items with new labels on them.

But is it really mandatory to party on a new year eve?

None of the Holy Scriptures mention, “You must party on New Year, or else you won’t achieve moksha”. Still, some lady and the lads celebrate albeit, their life being topsy-turvy. In such a scenario do you really need to celebrate? Saying No is easy but subconsciously your “fear of missing out” won’t let you say NO.

The number of new year resolutions you take is breath-taking, thus out of inquisitiveness I want to know if you have so much to achieve on a new year?

Where were you all this while?

It also implies that you were happy a whole year without habits you aspired to conquer. That somehow shows your indifferent attitude towards forming habits you aspired for. A big reason for your resolution failure!

“Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.” J.K Rowling

I want to ask you a mind-boggling question?

If your leg is broken,  Would you wait for a New Year to visit a doctor?

Perhaps not!  Then, Why did you wait for a year, to form habits? When the urgency akin to healing your broken leg will arise in almost every lasting changing you want to make, Wonders will unfold.

Do you really need a special occasion to begin something?

When will be the apt time to act or to form a new habit?

Whom will you be accountable to after forming a new habit?

“Make losing painful”. Jim Rohn

When you execute what Jim said, that is when you lose, make it painful, it must hurt your ego, you must mourn for it and when you win, party hard! You must constantly interrogate your failure? To begin with, some may be:

How did I let it happen?

Why did I let the failure surround me?

Your answers will liberate you from the mindset you have framed about yourself.  When analysis of failure will be done, you will not seek for a special occasion to conquer something, you will take action “NOW” and you will be accountable to yourself because without that habit you are inadequate and an inadequate person does not wait for a special occasion.

Happy new year, 2019.

Conclusion

New-year resolutions fail.

Be emotionally attached to your resolution.

Take one step at a time, focus on building the essential habit.

Make indifference your enemy.

Don’t take resolution for a "social media show off".

Celebrate victories and Make losing painful.

You need a reason, not an occasion to begin something new.