carlsbad-village.com
It’s not a secret that the UW-La Crosse Recreational Center has been packed with students recently. Maybe it’s because it’s the beginning of a new semester or maybe it’s because the cold weather has people working out to warm up, but most likely it’s because of New Years Resolutions (NYR).
Many students look forward to a fresh start as the New Year rolls in, especially as a new semester sets in, as well. In another month or so, though, the number of people in the gym will dissipate as students, one by one, start to fall off the NYR bandwagon. According to research done by the University of Scranton, 92 percent of people fail their NYRs.
Angie Heller, a UW-L junior, said that her NYR usually starts to fail after Lent, around the time Easter comes around, and she has never achieved a NYR that lasted the whole year. Last year, Heller’s NYR was to create a healthier lifestyle by eating healthier and cutting out sweets but failed quickly.
Heller believes that NYRs are a joke and are set up for failure. However, it’s not impossible to achieve a NYR. Become part of the eight percent success rate with the following tips to keeping NYRs and goals in general.
The first mistake that many like Heller make is setting unrealistic goals that are too broad, such as “being healthier.” The first tip to achieving a NYR is to set detailed, short-term goals that become stepping-stones to larger goals. Create specific weekly and monthly goals instead of a single goal for the entire year. Use monthly goals as branches of a NYR and weekly goals as branches of those same monthly goals.
For example, a NYR to be healthier could be broken up into different monthly goals such as “running a mile in eight minutes” or “doing 20 push-ups in a row.” Furthermore, set weekly goals such as eating one fruit and vegetable a day for one week or working out three times another week. Making short-term as well as long-term goals will set things into perspective and make NYRs more obtainable by changing one behavior in your life at a time.
Another reason why people fail their NYRs is because they are not emotionally invested in their goal.
“I wasn’t as dedicated, and it was harder than just writing down something,” Heller said about her previous NYR.
Heller’s NYR this year is to keep track of all her expenses by recording them in a notebook.
The trick is to make sure to have enough reasons and motivations to stick to a NYR.
Lifehack.org said, “With all change, there comes a time when the going is going to get tough, and if you don’t have enough emotional intensity behind your resolution, your resolve will easily wear down.”
The last tip to keeping NYRs is to remember that nobody is perfect, and there will be good days and bad days. The American Psychological Association said that perfection itself is unattainable.
So, with that said, don’t give up, and good luck!