Making Resolutions that Stick
Written by: Erica K. Daniels, CFW Fitness Professional
Most of us know someone who refuses to make New Year’s Resolutions. Maybe you are that someone. Perhaps you’ve made resolutions in the past, only to fall short within a few weeks. Maybe you find the exercise pointless or cliché. Maybe you think you’ve outgrown the custom. But before you completely toss out the practice of making resolutions, let’s rewind and learn about the history and importance of resolutions.
Looking Forward and Reflecting Back
New Year’s Resolutions go as far back as the Babylonians, 2000 B.C., who began their new year with a 12-day festival in their eleventh month. It was also the start of their farming season, and a common resolution was the return of borrowed farm equipment to medieval knights who would renew their vow to chivalry. Later, the ancient Romans adopted the Babylonian tradition of new year celebrations and resolutions. When Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar in 46 B.C., January 1 was established as the start of the new year. Interestingly, January is named for Janus, the two-faced Roman god who looks forward to new beginnings as well as backward for reflection and resolution.
Stick-to-it-evness and The Elephant in the Room
Making resolutions versus making resolutions that stick requires one thing: perseverance. People with stick-to-it-evness have a common understanding that sometimes they will fail. But they will never quit!
South African archbishop, Desmond Tutu prudently proclaimed that, “There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at time.” This popular idiom can (and should) be applied when making resolutions. Consider this:
- Keep it simple. Size matters, so resolutions should be small and manageable. For example, instead of saying “I will read 12 books in 2025,” set your goal to read one book per quarter in 2025. If you go above – awesome. If you miss the target one quarter – start fresh in the new quarter.
- Check and reflect. More than 50 percent of resolutions involve getting physically fit, losing weight, joining a gym, and eating healthier. That’s great; but for many it’s not sustainable. Instead, reflect on the past year. Check your social media feeds, posts, and history. Review your phone’s camera roll and your calendar notations. Can you find habits you want to change, impulses you want to curb, events you wish to experience again or for the
first time? - Shake it off. When teaching a child to walk, you know they will fall. When it happens,
you don’t chastise the child. You encourage the child to get up and try again. You cheer, smile, and boost their confidence to shake it off and try again. Nurture your inner child as if you are learning to walk. Don’t give up and resign to crawling for the rest of your days. - Semper Gumby. Semper is Latin for “always;” and Gumby is a fictional character from a 1950s children’s television show. Gumby is made of clay, but that doesn’t stop him and his companion pony, Pokey, from trying new adventures. Things don’t always go well, but every time Gumby gets knocked down, he picks himself up, reforms himself, and keeps on going. Zig Ziglar said it best, “When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.”
One More Time
In conclusion, make a New Year’s Resolution for 2025. According to a study conducted by the University of Scranton and published in 2013 in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, people who make explicit New Year’s Resolutions are 10 times more likely to succeed than those who don’t. Take it from Thomas Edison: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
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Additional Resources:
Boeckmann, Catherine; December 13, 2023. The Interesting History Behind New Year's Resolutions. Almanac.com