New Year Resolutions You Can Stick To

New Year resolutions in principle are a great idea, but how often do people stick to them once they have made them?

Gym memberships increase in the new-year but by March and April it has been observed that they dwindle as the new-year commitments turn from commitments, into good intentions, into a good idea, into a thing of the past.

So what happened? Why is it that New Year resolutions, for the most part, are difficult to stick by? How can you create resolutions that are easy to stick to, so that you can see the difference in your life?

Let’s start with the first question. New Year’s resolutions usually come packaged as a good idea. The most classic and popular resolution that seems to be at the top of everyone’s list is getting fit. However, although when you make the decision to change something it comes as a good idea, it’s more difficult to change than if that idea transforms itself into an insight or a realization.

A good idea is often self-imposed. You also push yourself to make the change because you feel you have to or should do. It comes from a place of obligation and you think if you motivate yourself enough that you will do it to get the outcome you think you want. Sustaining this sort of change in behavior is really difficult and at best feels like a lot of effort as opposed to the resolution feeling effortless.

However, there is a way to make your resolutions stick which can be done in an effortless way and this is through insight. Insight can come at any moment, when your goal turns into a desire, when you know that your feelings cannot come from the goal you have set yourself and instead you really want to change without being attached to the outcome. You create the resolution and stick to it because you know it’s something you really want to do and the resolution came from a place from a place of realization as opposed to it being a good idea. This is where behavior change is effortless. Insecure thought just melts away and you are left with a sense of peace and clarity – a sense of knowing.

Let me give you an example. Since having a baby, I have left my fitness to one side to conserve my energy levels because I was so tired all the time. However I had an “aha” moment recently that changed all of that, I suddenly saw that I didn’t need to conserve my energy levels anymore. While I thought that my feelings of tiredness and overwhelm were coming from them, instead I got to see that my energy levels were just indicating my way of thinking.

This insight has now had me going on walks and riding.

So do you have to wait to have an insight to make your resolutions that will stick?

The answer to this is a yes. However, what can really help is knowing that your feelings don’t come from the activity that you want to do, they come from thought in the moment. This is useful to know as you can make resolutions without then beating yourself up for not accomplishing them, if that is what happens.

The reason why anyone does anything is because they think it will give them a feeling, by knowing that your resolution cannot, you will end up having more fun in the process. This way, the resolution is more likely to stick too.

In short, creating a resolution based on insight or knowing that your feeling won’t come from the resolution will give you a higher probability of sticking to the resolution.
 

Marina Pearson.

Download your 5 Keys To Creating An Effortless Lifestyle Ebook at  www.MarinaPearson.com