As the new year unfolds, many of us may make resolutions to begin a new adventure, finish an old project, or to make progress on the path we're currently taking. While many New Year's resolutions are well-intentioned, why is it that 25% of people will give up within the first week, 50% in the first month, and only 10% of us will keep them through to the end of the year?
If experiencing success were as simple as having a thought ("I want to exercise more") and that thought led to action ("I workout for three hours each week"), then everyone would succeed in their goals to create new, lasting habits. The reality is that few of us experience that success, and the reason for that is that thoughts don't directly translate to actions.
The truth is that thoughts lead to feelings first, and those feelings then govern our actions. If my thought is, "I want to exercise more", then I have to discover how I feel when I believe that thought. If I want to exercise more because I'm afraid of people judging my body or because I'm not happy with my appearance, then the feelings I experience from wanting to exercise are of shame, embarrassment & self-deprecation.
When we choose to believe those thoughts and experience those feelings, what kinds of actions can we expect to come out of shame, embarrassment & self-deprecation? To put it nicely, probably not very productive ones.
The trick is to reframe our thoughts and beliefs. In the case of exercise, instead of focusing on my fears, we can choose to find the positives within that thought, such as, "I want to exercise more because I want to experience greater levels of energy, increased endorphin release (and therefore euphoria), and improve my sleep." With feelings of more energy, more endorphins, and improved sleep guiding our actions, who wouldn't work towards those benefits?
If you are setting any resolutions this year, take the time to question your reasons behind them. You may uncover feelings that may not be particularly motivating to the actions which will lead to your future success. Endeavor to place a positive spin on your thoughts which will lead to the motivating feelings which then will fuel productive actions. Here's to a happy, healthy, and productive year for ourselves and our loved ones!