How many times have you made a list of resolutions that include losing weight, exercising more, cutting down on drinking or smoking, finding a new job, being nicer to family members, getting together with friends more often, learning a hobby, going back to school, etc.?
Health improvement related resolutions are especially common, and I’m willing to bet that a few of them are on your list too. But I bet you’ve also got a history of failing at keeping those resolutions for more than a few days or a month – if you even get started on them at all. Why do we fail at keeping resolutions anyway?
There are many reasons:
- They’re hard! If they weren’t hard, we would already be doing them, and we’d find them easy to keep doing.
- You don’t know how to achieve your goal, probably because your goal isn’t specific enough and/or you have no idea how to get from Point A to Point B.
- You’re overly ambitious. It’s good to aim high, but you’ve got to aim for something achievable, so you can have some quick success, and then build on that success.
- Motivation is external, not internal. If you decide to lose weight because your sister is putting pressure on you, your best friend just lost 20 pounds and looks great, or your doctor just won’t shut up, you are probably not going to sustain motivation.
- You pick the wrong goal – one that’s vaguely defined. “Start exercising” doesn’t mean much at all. “Go to Zumba at the YMCA twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays at 5:00 p.m.” has so much more power, specificity, and intention.
- Our brains default to the well-known, the tried and true, and the – dare I say it? – the lazy path. It takes actual work to figure out a plan, learn new behaviors, and then repeat those behaviors until they become habits.
- Inertia rules! An object at rest tends to stay at rest, and, well, you know where this is going. #CouchPotatoesUnite – that’s where it’s going!
- Inadequate support. Change is hard. We need all the help we can get. When it comes to health-related changes, this is especially true. If you’ve got depression, anxiety, or an eating disorder, you need even more help.
Join me in making 2019 the year you finally succeed at improving your health. It doesn’t have to be hard. And you don’t have to do it alone.
It’s nowhere near hopeless though! In fact, I want to help you get a solid start to 2019. I’m offering a PCOS Holiday Bundle at an amazing price this year! The bundle includes a 2019 PCOS Journal, The PCOS Mood Cure book, a PCOS book bag, and a FREE gift! Get your bundle today at https://pcoswellness.com/shop/