What Are Realistic New Year's Resolutions?

Research suggests that half of Americans set New Year's resolutions, and only 8% achieve them.

New Year's resolutions are usually bold and unrealistic, such as I want to lose 100 pounds in 6 months, which is achievable but not in six months. You have to clearly define what you want and how you will get there. To achieve anything, you must be able to meet your expectations. Since most of the population works a 9-5 job, you must also schedule your goals to ensure you can properly track your progress. In this article, I am going to dive into each of these topics and give you the proper steps necessary to set realistic and attainable goals for 2023.

Why are New Year's resolutions unrealistic?

These goals become unrealistic due to pressure from an external source, such as social media, family members, friends, or anything that brings an abnormal amount of motivation. The harsh reality is that reason is fleeting. For a goal to become a habit, it has to have a deep purpose behind it. For example, weight loss is one of the top goals of every new year's resolution; if you are losing weight for vacation, a wedding, a person, or anything other than doing it to better yourself, it won't be sustainable for you to continue. To go back to doing what you were doing before is not thinking about the long game. The health point is to live as long as possible and feel good. Setting sustainable goals might be, "I want to be healthy so I can play with my grandkids," or to be a better example for my kids. Alternatively, you even want to be a better example for your partner. When we attach something meaningful to our goals, the motivation is always there because it is for something bigger than we are.

Define what your goals are.

New Year's resolutions are generally vague goals that give you an infinite amount of time to accomplish them. This is a good start, but when there is no destination to where you are going, you are just setting yourself up for burnout. Defining your goals is breaking them down into smaller, more attainable goals throughout the year. For example, if you want to lose 100 pounds in a year, okay, so you will need to lose 8.5 pounds per month. Instead of 100 pounds in a year, the plan now is 8.5 pounds each month, much more specific, and it seems more attainable. Breaking down your bigger goals makes let stressed and puts a lot of the pressure off you.

Set realistic expectations

We all have expectations of ourselves, especially with goals and dreams. Unfortunately, we put too much pressure on ourselves to get drastic results, which can be discouraging if we do not meet our expectations. With health, you can't be unrealistic; you must consider every variable, such as your family, work, responsibilities, and more, before committing to any endeavor. That is why setting realistic expectations are so essential in reaching your goals. For example, instead of hitting the gym six days a week for an hour, start two days a week for 20-30 minutes. From there, you want to build a consistent routine. After you have created a habit, you can add to it, such as adding one extra day a month to that routine to push yourself closer to those original expectations. This builds sustainability and is better for the longevity of your health.

"Consistency is not doing something every day; it's doing it when you say you are going to do it."

How does that look for nutrition? Instead of completely changing your diet to all whole food-based meals, change one meal at a time, start with breakfast and lunch and then slowly start incorporating healthier meals into the family. This way, you can work towards your goals and gradually include the family.

Start slow & Be Patient

One of the main reasons most people fall off the wagon with their health goals is burnout. By going all out and wanting to see the results faster, we end up overwhelming ourselves and getting burned out. Well, the body you have developed into today did not happen overnight, so changing it isn't going to happen overnight—patience and the understanding that this is a long-term change to your life. We avoid burnout by tracking our progress and starting slow.

Start slow means getting good at one thing at a time, such as eating better foods, making healthier decisions, and then moving on to something else. The more you can focus on one strength at a time, the longer you will be able to keep up with them.

You will make mistakes and see plateaus, which is perfectly fine. That is how we grow and learn. One way to help you with your patience is to extend your goals longer than the original date you set, so instead of a year, give yourself 2. Then from there, begin tracking your progress by taking a beginning picture, and then every two months, take another shot, and when you feel like you are not progressing, go back and see how far you have come. Reflecting is one of the best ways to evaluate where you are going.

Give up on the "all or nothing mentality"

When we want to start any endeavor in life, we usually think we should begin to max out. When it comes to losing weight, I will start going to the six days a week for an hour, and then I will eat only 2000 calories daily of all organic foods. When we say that to ourselves, it sounds easy to do, but putting that into practice with a family, a job, and responsibilities is impossible. You have to be realistic with your circumstances and start at a point you know you can commit to; it's okay to start with going to the gym two days a week starting, and as you get more consistent and you start seeing some results bump it up to 3 days and then four and so on. The slower you progress with commitment, the longer you will stay committed, and the motivation will not die.

Let go of the all-or-nothing mentality and create a mentality that is focused on the long game.

Focus on the wins of each day

Happiness is the main component in healthy living. A study was conducted in the blue zones of the world, where people have been recorded to live the longest. They were asked a series of questions, but the one that stuck out the most was that what helped them live the longest is how they focused only on what made them happy and the good things going on in their life.

Focusing on what makes you happy is that it produces more oxytocin and serotonin in the brain, two essential hormones that help heal the body and prevent disease. So how do we create these hormones more often? Reflect and evaluate yourself throughout the day; for example, when you are driving home from work, instead of focusing on what you could have done better, focus on what went well that day. Focusing on what made you happy, what you did right, and what you are grateful for produces loving and peaceful emotions, which ultimately lead to more serotonin and oxytocin.

When you get home, hug and make eye contact with those you love, oxytocin is the ecstasy to the brain. It brings euphoria and overwhelming love, which strengthen the heart and help detoxify inflammation from stress. So Express, speak, and feel as much love and happiness as possible each day. This will help you stay focused on improving and staying consistent with your goals.

2023 is your year, do not be afraid of change or the challenge you are about to embark on. Instead, embrace it and focus on the right intentions of getting better for yourself and those you love.