How to increase success with your New Year's Resolutions

A New Year, a fresh start. New intentions and a surge of energy - New Year Resolutions begin with such great hope. It’s great to have clarity on a handful of goals for the year ahead, whether that’s to lose weight, reduce stress and anxiety or be marathon fit.

Yet just a few days into the new year and it’s easy to find yourself overwhelmed with all there is to do. The empty fridge and ongoing cravings for the food you were never going to touch come January 1st, make it much harder than you hoped. As the reality hits that it’s going take hard work, organisation and commitment to get the results you desire is easy to see why around 80% of people give up on their New Year Resolutions by the second week of February.

You’re not afraid of hard work, nor do you completely lack willpower. Just that somehow in the calm of that wonderful pause between Christmas and New Year, the pace of your fast-paced living had been somewhat put to the back of your mind, making space for your true priorities to come to light.

Research shows that 80% of people give up on their New Years Resolutions by the second week of February.

This brings me to how most of us sabotage our success.

The biggest thing that gets in the way for every client I treat and coach (myself included!) isn’t time (although we say it is), it is managing our minds and emotions, especially when we’re busy. We start to procrastinate, find excuses (enter time again), and even downplay just how important the goal was when we made it.

The age of information overload doesn’t help. We’re bombarded with how to think, move, eat, sleep and meditate. Who should we trust? What will work best for me? Which method will give me the quick results I’m looking for?

It’s no wonder many of us find ourselves overwhelmed or frustrated by all we want to accomplish very early into the New Year.

I witness all too often how the pain states such as frustration, anxiety, shame and depression take over when we don’t stick to the commitment we’ve made to ourselves. Sadly, this isn’t cost-free, when cycles of these pain states creep in, they damage our confidence, energy and self-esteem. We start to sabotage our own success.

So what can we do to improve our chances of success?

The one thing that I guide my patients and clients to at the very beginning of our work together is starting with an aligned vision

Taking time to find deep clarity about what is truly important and lights you up is priceless. Gifting yourself a few quiet hours of reflection to allow the space to create the vision around what you’d love to manifest is a huge key to an aligned start to the year and making sustainable changes.

Otherwise, due to our subconscious beliefs and programming, our minds and egos can play tricks on us around what’s actually important to us - things are often not as simple as they initially seem. Having a moment to ask yourself important questions like:

• Why is it so important to me?

• What will it cost me? (in terms of time, energy, money, health, sacrifice etc)

• Is this resolution really worth my time at this point in my life?

Knowing the answers to such questions, as well as having a ‘why’ behind the resolution, is particularly important. Otherwise, why would you stick to the habits when you feel rubbish or the challenges hit mid-January?

Here are some resolutions I hear frequently and have indeed made myself over the years:

• Quit my addiction to sugar (or other stimulants - work/wine/chocolate/coffee) - to feel my natural energy and better health.

• Lose 10 kilos - so I feel lighter and more energetic.

• Do a half marathon - so I feel fit and strong.

• Meditate or do yoga - to reduce stress or an overactive mind.

• Prioritise a weekly adventure - so I feel alive.

• Change jobs - so I feel more fulfilled and valued.

• Increase my patience with the kids - to improve my relationship with them.

• Find a deeper purpose - to feel a sense of inner peace and presence.

  
  
  

These are all fabulous intentions, and deliberately phrased with clear language with the why after. Yet obviously they’re only great goals if they’re aligned with what’s important to YOU, at this point in your life.

Then the fun begins, next up after having vision and clear statements, is having the tools to manage our minds and emotions because they’re what allow us to get in our own way! Contrary to popular belief, it’s rarely simply a matter of poor willpower.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sally Dibden is a Health, Life and Performance Coach to driven achievers around the globe.  She is the founder of The Wellbeing Consultants™ and HER Space™, a community dedicated to women’s health and performance. She also runs her Physiotherapy and Yogalates Clinic in France where she lives with her family.  Sally specialises in supporting and empowering dynamic leaders to optimise their energy, health, hormones and performance. Her ethos being that optimal success and happiness in whatever leadership role - whether that be as an entrepreneur, busy professional or executive, teacher or parent, comes from optimal holistic health. Sally has worked with thousands of patients and clients over her 25 year career and understands the tendency of high achievers to stretch themselves. She hence helps her clients reach their potential with balance not burnout, enabling them to enjoy and sustain their ambitious goals with hormone, body, mind and life balance.