Why Are Resolutions So Hard To Follow? Willpower Isn’t The Only Determinant of Resolution Success
This post has been viewed 2,220 times.
While setting New Year’s resolutions is routine for many of us, research from the University of Scranton shows while 45% of Americans usually make New Year’s resolutions, only 8% actually stick to them. So, why are resolutions so quickly discarded? The easy answer is because most resolutions require a change in habit.
Starting a new habit is hard, and breaking a bad habit is even harder. While many of us assume that the key to changing our habits is having enough willpower, social scientist Joseph Grenny, co-author of Change Anything: The New Science of Personal Success, says our will to change is only a small factor that contributes to our ability to follow through with habit-changing resolutions. He argues the key to sustainable habit change is to examine all of the external factors that control our behavior. “We have far less control over our own behavior than we like to think,” says Grenny, who identifies six sources of influence that can get in the way of our resolution success.
Increase your resolution success by gaining control over the things that control you and follow these six key steps:
1. DISARM YOUR IMPULSES
2. ACQUIRE THE NECESSARY SKILLS
3. CHOOSE YOUR FRIENDS WISELY
4. FIND A SUPPORT SYSTEM
5. REWARD YOURSELF FOR SMALL GOALS
Tags:
