Resolution-2023

 

The beginning of every year is the time of resolution. It dawns on us that there are many things that we planned that didn't occur due to our laziness and other priorities. As a result, we resolve to craft the upcoming year a better one with more resolutions. Which month is the right time to implement our resolution but January?

Now you have decided on a list of things we want to achieve in the upcoming year. We may even have a long-term goal and want to work on it. For a few days, we are fired up and follow the routine that will help us to reach the goal. Unfortunately, we don't keep that spirit after a few days. Let us understand the aspects that will cause you to lose motivation and how to overcome those.

1. Too many Commitments

The first reason is that we commit too much though we already have many assignments in the queue. Though we manage somehow in the first few days, if we miss one fine day, we tend to follow the same routine the next day as well. Since the new routine is not much old enough, we ignore that.

2. No Prioritisation
Another reason that will hamper your routine is not prioritising it over other commitments. You may have many pressing matters to attend to. However, unless you prioritise what you want the most, you can't achieve those things which add more value to your life. You should understand that just by working the whole day without prioritising, the day ends without productive work. Therefore, you must prioritise your work so that even though you cannot finish everything you planned, you will still complete those tasks which add more value to your life and helps you reach your goal.

3. Start With  Small
People subscribe to a gym membership or walk early morning in January to start a new habit and live a healthy life and follow other practices to reach their goals. When the beginning is so rigorous, people lose interest within a few days as their mind is not prepared to follow the discipline every day. In most cases, it takes time to generate the expected results. People are not patient enough to wait for that to happen.

As a result, they start with a bang and end up soon. There is a scientific reason behind this. The amygdala part of the brain which developed around three hundred billion years ago deals with the flight or fight responses to every new situation. It means this part of the brain treats every new habit as a treat for the survival of man. Therefore, the brain gives the signal 'danger' for every new habit even though it generates positive results in the long run. Becoming cautious about new things is suitable during the caveman age. Today, we are living in a modern world where we feel more secure and have more information before taking any decision. But the amygdala part of the brain still poses a challenge to building a new habit.

To enable your cortex brain, which helps in innovative thinking, you should start small. For instance, if you want to exercise for 30 minutes every day, you don't need to straight away start exercising for 30 minutes. For the first day, just 5 minutes of exercise is good enough. You can gradually increase the time. This way you can tiptoe the amygdala part of the brain and reach the cortex to achieve great results.
Don't expect big things to happen in one day. If you have subscribed to a gym membership, just wearing a workout dress and visiting the gym centre on the first day is good enough. That is still an improvement when your older self used to sleep at that time. It takes time to build a habit.
The most amazing things about habits are that it starts compounding. Habits big or small, if you do them every day, will help in generating great results over some time. On the other hand, a bad habit, though it is not that significant will lead to disaster over some time. Therefore, focus on good habits to eliminate bad ones.

4. The 1% Rule

Continuing with the last point, to get a tremendous result, you should focus on one small aspect in each area that will help you succeed in the long run. For example, you may start by drinking a glass of warm water after you wake up contributes to improving your health. On the other hand, you can commit yourself to reading just 5 pages a day will help you improve your knowledge. Taking a walk whenever you are on call will help you reach your total steps of the day and you can save that extra time to complete other tasks. Though these tasks seem trivial and don't add much value to your life, they will reap huge dividends if you follow this religiously.