The new year has started and with it many people have started their good intentions. Often a recurring ritual that you start with full of enthusiasm and hope. It's all great, but most good intentions fail before January is over.
In this blog I explain why good intentions are often doomed to fail and how you can keep them up. After reading this blog you can adjust your plans to make them succeed this year!
1. You start unprepared
Eating healthy, exercising more, saving more, less stress or living a more structured life. Beautiful goals that ultimately fail because you simply did not prepare. Make a list of what you eat, spend, exercise or what your week looks like (depending on your good intention of course). Then make a list of what it should look like in your idealism. Put the lists next to each other and make a third list with changes that you want to implement to achieve your goals. For example; exchange half an evening of couch surfing for an hour of exercise. Leave those pants in the store and transfer the amount you would spend on them to your savings account. Set aside an evening to not meet anyone and just come to yourself. Just to name a few. Keep your lists safe, for example hang them on the fridge, it is always nice to have something tangible to fall back on.
2. You set the bar too high
The most common mistake with good intentions is that you set the bar way too high. The most recognizable example of this is healthier living. You go from zero to a hundred by structurally eating cookies on the couch (after a takeaway) to exercising 5 times a week and preparing 3 fresh meals a day. That requires so much motivation and willpower that it is doomed to fail after a few weeks or months. It is better to implement small changes each time that test your willpower as little as possible. Once you are used to that, you change something again. In this case, for example; exchange your soft drinks for water, plan a fixed time for a walk or bike ride, cook an extensive healthy meal once a week. If you are completely in this flow, you expand your goals a bit. You can just as easily apply this to other goals. Do you want to live a more structured life? Then make a fixed schedule for 1 day (part) per week. Do you want to save more? Start by depositing a few euros into your savings account every month.
3. You don't tell anyone about your New Year's resolution
Because; you can do it alone and you don't want to look like a fool if it goes wrong. Wrong choice. Because if you tell someone about your plans, you can also go to that person if you are having a hard time. It is super nice if someone gives you a boost or just puts an arm around you when you are feeling down. Even better (and more fun!) is to find an ally and fight for the same good intention together. Whether you cook together, choose a savings goal together or plan a fixed relaxation moment together.
4. You underestimate your weak moments
Often your good intentions are habits that you want to change. That is difficult, you have been doing it for a long time and probably on autopilot. Everyone has a moment when you think, never mind, I'll just stop. The reason can be very small, a bad day at work, rebellious children at home, a comment that goes down the wrong way, a busy period. Recognize moments when your fuse is shorter than normal and at the same time think about how you can keep motivating yourself at that moment to stay on your path. For example, use a positive quote or apply the if/then method. For example; If the children are rebellious, I'll go upstairs to cool down
5. You're too hard on yourself
And then comes the moment that you have made a mistake. Didn't go to the gym, didn't stick to your schedule, didn't put a euro in your savings account or ate that takeaway. The first time you pull yourself together, but the second or third time you are so annoyed that you are inclined to give up. Don't do it. Your good intention has probably not yet become a new habit. It takes 21 to 60 days for something to become part of your routine. Just pick it up again and start counting again. You will see that you will keep your good intention for longer and longer. If only to break your record from the previous attempt!