On the 1st January 2011 I had two small vodkas to see the New Year in and then made a decision that I would stop drinking alcohol because of the impact on my health, and I had an interest in running so wanted to perform to the best of my ability. I also made two other resolutions which were to train well and eat clean.
Well, I haven’t had a single drink since and I am proud of that but it has been easy to stick to because I have remained motivated and always 100% confident in succeeding. The fact I have been around alcohol at times hasn’t mattered because at no time have I been tempted to want a drink. I am in the habit of not drinking and successfully changed my behaviour.
The other two resolutions from 2011 haven’t been as straight forward for various reasons, although for a long time I did stick to them. When injuries arrived I became disappointed, and while in the beginning I completed cross training persistent injuries eventually led me to stop running all together in September 2015. I stopped training in October 2015 when there were other things I needed to focus on and I felt I could longer achieve what I wanted. A similar pattern emerged with clean eating throughout 2015 and ultimately it led to me eating rubbish, resulting in putting on weight each time, which fuelled by desire not to train. I have been unable to successfully change my behaviour in this area as a lifestyle change.
New Year 2016 I decided to change my behaviour by eating better and starting to run again so I did an unusual thing. I ate rubbish food on the 1st January and decided I wasn’t going to run at all! It would appear to most people I hadn’t made a good start to the year by failing day 1. However, I will explain below why I did this!
Don’t worry when you fail
Research has shown less than 10% of people manage to stick to a New Year’s resolutions, meaning 9 out of 10 people fail. I want the 90% to succeed and to do this it is important to recognise that failure doesn’t need to be final.
What I mean by failure doesn’t need to be final is if someone drank 3 cans of fizzy pop per day in 2015 and in 2016 they decide to stop drinking fizzy pop but one day they have a can of fizzy pop, they tend to focus on the negative and think to themselves they have failed, resulting in eventually going back to the old habit of drinking 3 cans of pop per day.
Changing old habits can take time so I suggest people focus on the positive rather than the negative. Using the example above they have gone 7 days without drinking fizzy pop but then on day 8 they had a can of fizzy pop meaning they had 23 less cans of fizzy pop compared to 2015. Now! Isn’t that some achievement? Isn’t that a success? Rather than using this experience to revert back to old habits, use it to drive positive change.
I have used the example above because it is something people can relate to and common resolutions tend to be about cutting something out that people enjoy even though it might not be good for them, but this method can be applied to any situation.
Why did I start by failing? Well, like most people I fall into the trap of getting hung up on the negative at times, and then give up because something isn’t perfect. I am not suggesting anyone else uses this approach but for me failing at the start has taken the pressure off for the year ahead. The result to date is my diet and running is much better than the last few months of 2015 which I see as a success.
If you haven’t stuck to your New Year’s resolution my message is don’t worry just make sure it doesn’t become a habit! Continue to drive positive change.
I found this article from behavioural addiction expert Mark Griffiths informative and useful in providing clarity on changing your day-to-day behaviour whether it is for personal reasons or in the workplace.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/new-year-2016-resolutions-how-to-keep-them-a6792876.html
