{"id":899,"date":"2017-01-22T21:41:50","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T03:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/successseriesllc.com\/wordpress\/?p=899"},"modified":"2017-01-27T22:45:52","modified_gmt":"2017-01-28T04:45:52","slug":"why-resolutions-are-hard-to-keep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.successseriesllc.com\/wordpress\/2017\/why-resolutions-are-hard-to-keep\/","title":{"rendered":"Why New Year\u2019s Resolutions Are Hard To Keep"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

#GrowYourLife<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Why New Year\u2019s Resolutions Are Hard To Keep <\/strong><\/h2>\n

It dawned on me while reading a recent magazine article why New Year\u2019s resolutions are so hard to keep: it comes down to the way our brains work. A better understanding of your thinking could help you follow through on your goals for 2017. Here\u2019s what I learned:<\/p>\n

The Thought Alone Satisfies Our Instant Gratification<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Tim Pychyl, a psychologist at Carleton University in Ottawa, states \u201cMaking<\/em> New Year\u2019s resolutions requires no action. The simple thought\u2014the idea that we\u00a0intend<\/em>\u00a0to lose weight or exercise more\u2014satisfies our instant gratification. In the moment, just thinking about losing weight makes us feel good, and we don\u2019t actually have to go out and do the tasks necessary to achieve that goal.\u201d This is similar to recent thinking as presented in this TED Talk from Derek Sivers<\/a> that telling the world your goals gratifies your brain to a point akin to ACTUALLY ACHIEVING IT! Check it out. It\u2019s a new paradigm. I say, tell a select few to keep you accountable.<\/p>\n

Procrastination<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Another reason, states Pychyl, is labeled affective forecasting<\/a><\/em>, a term meaning how we feel in the moment is an indicator to how we will feel in the future. And it makes sense: When you make a New Year\u2019s resolution, you feel good about it at that moment, so you predict that you are going to feel good about it in the future. So oftentimes people will just put it off. \u201cHumans are predictable,\u201d says Pychyl (whose work on procrastination can be found at\u00a0procrastination.ca<\/a>), \u201cProcrastination is the number one reason resolutions fail. They just don\u2019t want to get started\u201d.<\/p>\n

Automatic Habits <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Even as we try to overcome our resistance to our resolutions, something a little more powerful takes over in our brains: The force of habit. In simple terms, habits are connections of neurons that work together that have been beneficial to us over time. The more we execute the habitual behavior, the stronger those neuronal connections in our brains become. Through the course of human evolution, habits have been a really good thing; they are automatic thoughts or actions that have, for example, saved us from predators. The brain’s entire limbic system is devoted to this automatic thinking, while the prefrontal cortex\u2014the decision-making center of our brain\u2014does its best to determine when it can and should override our basic instincts. Habits take a long time to break, so I advise people to take each goal one step at a time. Just determine what the next action is and take that. Momentum will build. New habits will soon become routine. Small successes will strengthen the muscle.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness Is One Answer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By understanding what\u2019s going on in our brain, we have a better chance of controlling it. The key, Pychyl says, is to loosen the connection between the neurons that form these habits. One way of doing this is through mindfulness. A mindfulness practice will teach you to view the world and emotions in an unbiased way. We often associate certain behaviors or actions\u2014like going for a run or flossing\u2014with negative thoughts. Over time, this connection strengthens and the association between negativity and flossing becomes an automatic thought. As a result, not flossing becomes a routine habit. But if you give flossing an unbiased second chance, you’ll realize you could just as easily associate with good or neutral thoughts. Science backs this idea up:\u00a0some studies show<\/a>\u00a0that even eight weeks of mindfulness meditation can decrease the size of the brain\u2019s amygdala<\/a> and degrade the connections between the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex. \u201cSo there are physiological changes in the brain that happen when we develop some ability to bring non-judgmental awareness to the world,\u201d says Pychyl.<\/p>\n

In summary<\/h2>\n

In summary, don\u2019t let procrastination, bad habits, negative thinking and failure deter you from fulfilling your goals. As you begin to work on your goal, just focus on the next action.<\/p>\n

Be watching for two related things in upcoming blog posts: I will soon be posting a 7-part guided mindfulness meditation audio series and a post entitled \u201cTry Forming A Habit Instead Of Making A Resolution\u201d.<\/p>\n

One of my missions in life is to move and inspire people to take action in their own personal development and business building.\u00a0 It is my honor and privilege to serve you in this way.\u00a0 I make it an absolute MUST to inspire each and every one of you to STEP UP and live the life of your dreams, NOW, and not settle for less than you can be, do, have, say or believe.<\/p>\n

There is no better endorsement than that of a friend, so if you like what you\u2019re reading or are using my many\u00a0resources<\/a>, tell a friend to join the\u00a0Tom Hart Success Series Community<\/a>, to receive email notifications of\u00a0new blog posts<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Talk with Tom podcast episodes<\/a>,\u00a0learn of\u00a0upcoming events<\/a>,\u00a0and other news, by\u00a0visiting my website<\/a>\u00a0 and clicking on the offer\u00a0to receive the Introduction and first two chapters of my eBook\u00a0Getting From Here To There\u00a0<\/em>for FREE by leaving their email address (we respect your privacy and do not tolerate spam and\u00a0will never sell, rent, lease or give away\u00a0your\u00a0information to any third party<\/em>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

#GrowYourLife Why New Year\u2019s Resolutions Are Hard To Keep It dawned on me while reading a recent magazine article why New Year\u2019s resolutions are so hard to keep: it comes down to the way our brains work. A better understanding of your thinking could help you follow through on your goals for 2017. Here\u2019s what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grow-your-life","tag-goal-setting"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy New Year\u2019s Resolutions Are Hard To Keep - Success Series<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"procrastination, bad habits, negative thinking and failure are just some of the reasons why new year's resolutions are hard to keep\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.successseriesllc.com\/wordpress\/2017\/why-resolutions-are-hard-to-keep\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why New Year\u2019s Resolutions Are Hard To Keep - 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