Beat the inner bastard

The year is almost over and many people take the turn of the year as an occasion to make good resolutions. Not a bad idea! But so that deeds also grow out of it, you should pay attention to a few things!

Good resolutions belong to New Year's Eve like the twenty broadcast dates of "Dinner for one". A Forsa survey showed that in 2018, around 40 percent planned to make a difference or better in 2019.

In the first place were 62 percent Stress reduction, followed by more time for friends and Family (60 percent), more exercise or sports (57 percent), more time for yourself (51 percent), a healthier diet (49 percent) and weight loss at 34 percent. The classics drinking less alcohol (16 percent) and quitting smoking (11 percent), on the other hand, were more likely to be beaten off.

Just over half of the respondents stated that they had implemented the previous year's resolutions for at least more than three months.

So far, so beautiful. Only many fail just after the initial Motivation is gone. It is not easy not to let the good intentions degenerate into a fire of straw and to throw the inner bastard to the food, but to achieve sustainable changes through them. Because we humans are just creatures of habit, who feel most comfortable in a familiar environment. This is due to evolutionary factors: what is known carries less danger than what is new, which is why our brain is trained for habit formation. So if you really want to achieve a change, you have to make an effort. But effort alone is rarely enough; rather, other factors are decisive.

Sincerity

Good resolutions are doomed to failure if they are not meant seriously. So if you want to lose weight because the doctor or your Partner demands it, but you have not come to the conclusion that it is really important and right, you will most likely fail. This is usually the case if the personal pain threshold has not yet been reached, the suffering pressure is not great enough. So before you diligently make good resolutions, you should deal with them exactly.

Frugality

Many people want to change their whole lives for the new year: less Stress, more sports, healthier eating, the full program. This is certainly meant well, but it calls the inner bastard on the Plan much faster than if changes are tackled step by step. There is also a great risk that a failure in the case of a premeditation will immediately destroy all plans, because Demotivation prevails. This does not mean, however, that one should limit oneself only to the smallest goals. It is quite good and sensible to want a lot, but then this must not remain abstract.

Accuracy

Losing weight is a nice intention ,but how much and in what period? Making resolutions concrete goals helps to achieve them. Of course, you should remain realistic, but in any case it makes sense to write down your own goals precisely.

Concretion

Of course, anyone who formulates goals must also see how they can be achieved. It is necessary to prepare a Plan, under certain circumstances free up time reserves and to make further preparations. There needs to be a clearly defined strategy to help achieve the goals.

Patience

Most lifestyle changes are very difficult, especially at the beginning, and it takes time for positive effects to set in. Of course, because first of all, it is simply exhausting for us to change things, to create new habits. With all understanding for impatience, but some things just do not go from one day to the next. In order not to lose Motivation, it is therefore so important to break down big goals into small sub-goals. Because this way you are much more likely to see what you have already achieved.

Consequence

Ultimately, there will always be distractions and seductions. But the more of this you successfully leave behind, the more the belief grows that you can do it in the long term. How consistent you have to be exactly depends on the goal as well as on the individual. Some people, for example, can easily sin once a week in their diet, but otherwise consistently pursue their Plan, others quickly find no measure and are subsequently gloated. Here, too, it is important to be aware exactly how strong a desire really is and, under certain circumstances, to give in to it in a limited and controlled way.

Have fun making resolutions and a Happy New Year!

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