Sticky Resolutions

Studies have shown that less than 25% of people stay committed to their goals after just 30 days, and only 8% actually accomplish them.¹ Well, it’s February. Which group are you in right now? Which group will you be in when December 2020 rolls around?

Making your resolutions stick

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you make your resolutions stick and achieve your goals? One baby step at a time. If you try to change too many behaviors at once, there will come a day when you won’t be able to execute on them and you’ll feel like you failed. The only way you will be able to ingrain the new habits into your subconscious mind is if you start with one or two small changes, execute them until you don’t have to consciously remind yourself of them any longer, and then change the next habits.

It is the same concept as when you are making changes to your bowling game. If you try to break down and change too many parts of your game at one time, you will feel overwhelmed and unable to remember to perform all of them in one single shot. Your brain can only consciously focus on a maximum of one or two items at at time. Once one change can be performed subconsciously, you can start to work on the next skill.

One step at a time

When setting goals and making resolutions, it is also neither helpful nor sustainable if you have the “all or nothing” mentality. If you have thoughts like, “I’m either dieting or I’m not,” “I’m either healthy or I’m not,” or “I’m either a good bowler or I suck,” then you are creating parameters that set you up for failure. When you have the “all or ...