WHY YOU WILL SUCK AT KEEPING YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS!

Why the Bad News Jo-ann?

As a serious student of human motivation, I know the science and statistics, and I have personally experienced the hype and crash of setting goals/resolutions and not achieving them.  The first two weeks usually go along beautifully, but by February people are backsliding head first down that ski slope of false hope!  And by next December most people are back where they started—often even further behind and feeling like Losers, and not the weight loss kind either.

You are Setting the Wrong Kinds of Goals/Intentions!

If I hear one more person advocating S.M.A.R.T (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) goals, I will drink myself silly and start a revolution. Perhaps a megaphone and going door to door? Ok, how about this blog?  Because the idea of SMART goals is popular does not mean it has been proven to work. In fact, we know these types of goals DO NOT work. Punto Finale! Peter Bregman, writing in the Harvard Business Review Blog Network, argues “When we set goals, we're taught to make them specific and measurable and time-bound. But it turns out that those characteristics are precisely the reasons goals can backfire. A specific, measurable, time-bound goal drives behavior that's narrowly focused and often leads to either cheating or myopia. Yes, we often reach the goal, but at what cost?” For example, in the past, before I was enlightened ☺, I set a SMART goal of losing 10 pounds by this particular date. That goal did nothing to change the behaviours that lead to the 10 lbs and come ‘Weigh-In Mondays’, you could be sure I took some pills that would cleanse my bowels Sunday night (cause crap weighs a ton), I did not drink water or eat before, and made sure to weigh in with clothes that were light and breezy! If that meant freezing my tush off in winter, so be it. I had a goal dammit!

What works!

Making resolutions work, involves changing behaviors, and to change a behaviour you have to change your thinking (or "rewire" your brain).  Brain scientists have discovered, through the use of MRIs, that habitual behavior is created by thinking patterns that create neural pathways, which become the basis for your behavior when you're faced with a decision. Trying to change your thinking by "not trying to do it," in effect just strengthens it. Recall the adage: “What you focus on expands.” Change requires creating new neural pathways from new thinking. I recommend instead that you start thinking about Intrinsic Goals or Passions. These are goods of the Soul, like self-acceptance, physical fitness, ongoing learning, etc. The way to get to them is to ask yourself WHY you want to achieve that particular resolution or goal? Then continue to ask yourself, how will I think if I am physically fit, accepting of myself and so on. This thought pattern will lead to different behaviours and over time help develop new neural pathways. Become part of my revolution to overturn the SMART Goal/Resolutions Phenomena.

That’s it from my Passionate Perspective! If you want help in Discovering your Passions and changing your neural pathways, it’s what I do best! Contact me!  I would love to hear from you!