Have Your New Year Resolutions Fizzed Out? Try a Mid-Year Resolution Instead
New Year’s resolutions are notoriously difficult to stick through. About 80% of people lose motivation in just a few weeks, quitting by February. There are many reasons why we failed to stick to our goals despite the light a New Year may bring. It may be a good idea to learn why most resolutions fail and try setting a mid-year resolution instead.
Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about New Year’s resolutions, including why most fail. Learn the best habits you can use to actually reach your goals and find out how to set successful mid-year resolutions instead.
What Are New Year Resolutions
The New Year’s resolution is a goal or promise to do something in the new year. Many people start New Year resolutions as soon as January 1st comes, however, many quit within a month, with 80% giving up by February. Common New Year’s resolutions include quitting smoking, losing weight, saving money, living life to the fullest, learning a new skill, and many more.
Why Do They Fail
So, if New Year’s resolutions are goals, promises, or dreams you truly want to accomplish, why do many of us quit? There are many reasons resolutions do not work. This is because we try to make huge changes and we are unrealistic with ourselves. For example, if you’ve never worked out, setting a resolution to work out every day is a big change. A drastic change such as this can lead to burnout and will probably cause you to quit.
We may as that if we do not achieve our goal, then it’s better just to give up. Furthermore, we tend to punish ourselves instead of rewarding small accomplishments. It is not good to expect huge changes practically overnight. That is not how you develop healthy sustainable habits. Making and accomplishing resolutions is all about breaking goals down into smaller, more achievable steps, being flexible, and rewarding small accomplishments.
There is a societal pressure to capitalize on new beginnings, hence the tendency to set huge goals for the new year. Change is hard though. This is especially true for the time of year when New Year’s comes around. Holidays can bring forward frustration, anxiety, fatigue, and stress. It’s not an optimal time to make life-changing goals.
Some of it is also performative. You may state “I’m going to start eating super healthy as soon as the New Year’s comes around,” but you know in your heart you have all those holiday food leftovers sitting in the fridge waiting for you to snack on. If you fail your resolution on day two, it’s not really your fault, you just don’t want food to go to waste. Again, a good goal is not just eating healthy. It is important to set smaller goals that help you change daily habits little by little.
What is a Mid-Year Resolution
As the name implies, a media resolution will start around June or July, the halfway point of the year. These can help you set new goals for the last part of the year. Mid-year resolutions allow us to reevaluate what’s important and adjust accordingly. Some mid-year resolutions pertain to summer and fall, while other mid-year resolutions focus on reflecting and changes. No matter what, a media resolution can help you refocus on what’s important.
How to Start a Good Resolution
What we want to do when starting a mid-year resolution is avoid all the things that cause us to quit New Year’s resolutions. We should be realistic, and flexible. It is important to track our progress and make small achievable goals. Plan well, and celebrate successes.
First of all, we need to be realistic when creating our resolutions. It is important to be realistic, write down the resolution, plan how to follow it, and be open to change. It is all right to change or adjust your strategy or resolution. A useful tip is to keep a journal and write down the goals and steps you’ll take to accomplish goals. Use this to plan and track progress. This will even allow you to celebrate achievements and reward yourself accordingly. Celebrating yourself is a great way to keep yourself motivated on your way to your resolution.
A simple resolution can be wanting to work out more. Instead of trying to work out every day for an hour, simply start small and add movement to your daily life. This could be a short 20-minute walk, a gym session two times a week, or a 5-minute yoga session in the morning. Be understanding and flexible with yourself.
If your New Year’s resolution is to eat healthy, don’t restrict too much. Change your resolution to something more realistic, like eating more vegetables with your meal. Small daily changes can help you make more progress than trying to reach an unattainable goal.
Specifics for Mid-year Resolutions
Another way to set mid-year resolutions is to tailor them to this time of year. The midpoint of a year is a good time to check in with yourself and see how far you’ve come from the beginning of the year. It’s a chance to start fresh and look for new possibilities and goals for the summer. Some simple mid-year resolutions can be going outside more, shopping locally, planning more trips, and simple seasonal activities and goals that can help you reset and refresh your life.
The Takeaway
New Year’s resolutions are hard to stick to. They tend to be too extreme of a change for us to make overnight. New Year’s resolutions tend to be too tough to stick to. Instead of trying to change completely, make resolutions smaller, more achievable goals.
Remember that health comes from within. Eat nutrient-dense meals, exercise when you can, at least 3 times a week, and take care of your mental health. Daily habits become the building blocks for emotional, mental, and physical health. Take care of your gut health too! Learn everything you need to know about gut microbiota today for free here.
