New Year's Resolutions

Many of us set resolutions in January, but how many of us keep them? A recent survey estimates only 46% can keep to these commitments. Another survey, of the Top 10 resolutions that people make, has ‘read more’ at number 10 – how vague is that? ‘Lead a more fulfilling life’ is at number 5 – again, where’s the specifics here?

There are key reasons why we don’t keep our resolutions: some are habitual - we just can’t stop ourselves doing what we’ve always done; some of them are about knowledge – we don’t understand enough to allow the knowledge to convince our own minds on the need to change. 

I had a goal to join the 5am club. That group of successful people who spend their time between 5am-6am every day, doing yoga, reading, and meditating, getting their minds focused for the day ahead. It’s now the end of January and I haven’t done it once. I love the idea of it. How to do it is another, completely different challenge for me! Jeremy coached me on it and reminded me that I am a night owl. For me, early mornings are a challenge, so 5pm would be a better time for me to do this kind of thing. 

The key reasons we fail are:

1) the goal is not well formed enough to be actionable

2) the goal is too difficult to measure

3) there is no accountability if the goal is not achieved

For more tips and inspiration, please listen to our accompanying free podcast from Bob and Jeremy’s Conflab, ‘New Year’s Resolutions’, on your favourite podcast platform.