Many New Year resolutions are the sort that will require an individual to make changes to their behavior. Behavioral change is very difficult and won‟t happen overnight.
What Could Be An Issue
Behaviors and habits are acquired over a long period of time so changing them and replacing them with different behaviors will be slow. It is crucial that anyone undertaking such a resolution recognizes this.
As well as the changes being slow to make it is inevitable that the resolution will be broken simply because to change behaviors takes a very long time. This must also be understood by anyone making a resolution.
To be successful you should plan how to tackle the behavioral changes that you are going to have to make. You must make a list of the strategies that you intend to employ to achieve it and also note the obstacles that will have to be overcome.
It can‟t be stressed too much how important a journal is in helping to succeed. A journal can be used to record progress and any setbacks along the way. It should be referred to often as it will enable a person to identify what the obstacles were that made them break or deviate from their resolution. Once that is identified then effort can be made to ensure that circumstances aren‟t repeated again.
It is important to avoid repeating past failures. If someone has made the same resolution and failed repeatedly it is going to be hard for
them to succeed as their self belief will be low. In this situation the goal should be revised. They should reflect on which strategies had been the most effective and what obstacles prevented them from keeping the resolution. By changing the approach it is more likely that they will see results.
It must be remembered that change is a process. Unhealthy habits take years to develop and it may take longer than you think to change.