If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that things can change in an instant, plans can be (rather unceremoniously) thrown out the window, and when we wake up one morning, the world may look a whole lot different than it did when we went to sleep. We have to be able to adapt, stay focused, and keep moving forward toward our goal.
And that’s where I think creating meaningful habits, rather than setting resolutions, will make all the difference in 2021. (There’s even a free 2021 Habit Tracker waiting for you at the end of this blog!)
Hands up who made resolutions at the start of 2020 that either didn’t make it past January or fell off the radar when things got a bit crazy? Hands up whose resolutions in years past have ever made it past January?
According to Forbes, “approximately 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail”. Either they’re too big, too unattainable, they’re not specific enough or there is just no investment in them, to begin with. People make resolutions because that’s just what you do on the 1st of January. We all know cliches of “eat healthier”, “workout more”, “drink more water” are usually the first to go. According to the latest research, 12% of gym memberships happen in that post-festive period between Christmas and New Year, and 14% of them will have canceled by February.
Why should we be make habits, not resolutions?
Habits are what make you who you are and make up what you do with your day. Habits like brushing your teeth, become so engrained in our everyday that we do them without even thinking about them. So how powerful would it be if we reframed our resolutions, into habits? Instead of saying “I’m going to eat healthier in 2021” we say “I’m going to eat porrige for breakfast every day” or instead of saying “I’ll drink more water in 2021” we start the habit of having a glass of water first thing each day.
“The first step in reaching a goal is first establishing a daily habit.”
If we have goals, or resolutions, that we want to achieve, we have to break them down, and make them become habits, become second nature, in order to achive them. Where would you be this time next year if you made going for a run as second nature as brushing your teeth?
Treat this time now as a chance to review your current habits, both personal and at work. What is productive and what isn’t? What bad habits do you have that you could change this year?
Habits are hard to make but hard to break and can be life-changing! They take time and commitment to become fully ingrained into our day to day lives. Forget the “it takes 21 days to create a habit” hype. Just commit to doing something positive, grounded in an end goal, every day and the rest will fall into place as a result.
FREE 2021 Habit Tracker
To help you keep on top of those healthy habits, I’ve created a 2021 Habit Tracker and it’s yours to use completely for free! If you want this free, downloadable resource, get in touch through the form below and your 2021 Habit Tracker will be in your inbox in no time!
