Come the New Year many of us make resolutions we try and maintain, however only 8% of Australia’s population maintain these throughout the year. In the first few months these are often forgotten and fail due to a range of reasons such as goals being unrealistic, too many goals are made or progress is not seen/ tracked.
So how can these be maintained?
Only make one or two which your brain can focus on as we store these in our prefrontal cortex where short term memory is located. Ensure these goals are clearly defined, will fit into your life and are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timeframe. With this in place, goals can be monitored for progress over time and adapted where suitable. Depending on your goal, these changes may take time (e.g. weight loss) or happen quickly (e.g. attending a gym 3-4 times a week). Ensure you share resolutions with friends and family so they can provide support especially through harder stages and they may share your goal. Evidence has proven over 10% of Australian women are more likely to succeed when sharing their resolutions.
In maintaining your resolutions these will become habits and something we start to do automatically through learned behaviour. Psychologists have found that up to 90% of our behaviour is automatic and done out of habit. Habits start after a minimum of 21 days depending on complexity but these become automatic after 66 days. Its important that once you have a break or slip up, as we all do sometimes, to get back up and slowly restart your smart goal.
There are many different New Years resolutions made, with the most popular being weight related goals at 38% and other common goals include getting fitter/maintain general fitness levels at 22%. Most people have reasons as to why these goals are never achieved e.g. low back pain, or sports injuries. Don’t let this stop you this new year! Get in to see the physiotherapists in our centre for an assessment to resolve any issues (short and long term) to help you to achieve and maintain your goals.
