How to Make Your Resolutions Permanent!

So, how are the New Year’s Resolutions going? – let’s face it, most of us have tried and failed many times to kick start healthy new habits on the 1st January, and most of these good intentions have fallen by the wayside within a few weeks. In fact, research tells us that a whopping 80% of new gym members have given up on their fitness regime by the second week of February!

We all know that signing up for the gym, kitting yourself out with new trainers or downloading that new diet app are the easy bits. It’s the ‘sticking to it’ part that’s the problem, and usually because we tend to unwittingly set ourselves up to fail. So, what can you do to help to maximise your chances of creating healthy, happy resolutions that stick?

Here are my top tips for making those great new habits permanent ……

1. Make the Goals Specific and A

chievable – if they’re too ‘big’ or vague they will feel overwhelming and it’s far more likely that you’ll simply end up feeling disheartened and want to give up. Be realistic and set clear goals for yourself that you know could be achieved if you set your mind to it.

1. Reward Yourself for Staying ‘On Track’ – break your goals down into more manageable chunks and simply focus your attention on getting to the next milestone - this really helps to maintain enthusiasm as you’re then far more aware of your own results. Take it a step further and build in healthy, feel-good treats to reward your efforts when you tick of those smaller goals! They all add up and before you know it you’ll have hit the bigger goal and it will have been a far easier and more enjoyable journey.

2. Visualise – spend some time thinking about all of the deeper reasons that you have for wanting to make these particular changes in your life. How will your life look and feel different when you’ve achieved your goals? What will this mean for you? Imagine how that future would be and the knock-on effect of making those changes (for example, losing weight won’t only mean that you’ll be slimmer, you’ll have more energy, more confidence, feel healthier, feel proud of yourself, etc.). Why not try making a vision board filled with inspiring images and words that sum up the future that you’re working towards, and look at it every morning to keep you focused on the bigger reason

3. Be Accountable! If you keep quiet about your goals you make it far too easy to ‘let yourself off the hook’ if you don’t achieve them. We all have wobbles, or moments where we feel less motivated to keep going. The trick here is to give yourself as many reasons as you can to stick with your new habits, and a brilliant way of doing this is to tell other people about your goals! Telling others means that you tap into their support and encouragement, and of course it will feel far harder to quit when you know that other people are holding you accountable! Why not go one step further and ‘buddy up’ with a friend to keep each other on track? You’ll be making a commitment to achieving your goals alongside each other so you won’t want to let each other down.

4. Focus on the Feeling Your unconscious mind is hard-wired to draw you towards behaviours that ‘feel’ emotionally beneficial, and as research suggests that the unconscious controls at least 90% of our thoughts it’s far likelier that we will succeed if we’re more aware of the emotional benefits of sticking with our healthy habits rather than staying on the sofa eating chocolate! Try spending a few minutes each day doing this simple exercise; Find a quiet spot where you won’t be disturbed for a couple of minutes, close your eyes and think of one or two future scenes that sum up what you wanted when you took the decision to make these changes. Focusing on one at a time, allow the scene to ‘come to life’ in your mind and imagine not just how it looks but how it feels, sounds, smells, and tastes. Imagine that you’re there, in that future scene, and really experience the emotional feeling of it. Name that feeling and notice everything about how it feels. Breathe it in, and allow it to become as strong as possible.Practising this regularly strengthens the subconscious connection between your new habits and that all-important emotional pay off, meaning you’ll be far less likely to quit.

5. Schedule It If you want to set a new habit you need to make sure that you’re planning it in, or you will never feel asthough you have time for it. Making time for a new habit or project means being realistic about how much time you can give it, then prioritise it so that other ‘stuff’ can’t get in the way. Schedule the time in your diary (meaning that other things will need to make way for it) and COMMIT to it. Unless you do this, and are strict with yourself about dedicating that time, it just won’t happen and you’ll forever be making excuses with yourself.

6. Stop with the ‘All or Nothing’ Thinking! It’s important to remember that in order to make successful, lasting changes you need to be able to manage failure effectively. If we place unrealistic expectations on ourselves to stick ‘perfectly’ with our new regime we’re placing undue pressure on ourselves and simply setting ourselves up to fail. One of the most common reasons for giving up on new habits is viewing any setback as evidence of ‘complete failure’ and a reason to give up altogether! If you do find yourself slipping up, use it as an opportunity to pay attention to your thoughts. Ask yourself if you’re slipping into ‘all or nothing’ thinking and remind yourself that YOU have choice as to how you interpret this setback. You can decide to be kind to yourself, to see this as simply a momentary lapse and a normal part of the process of change, and bounce back from it quickly – or you can be hard on yourself, interpreting it as evidence of your own personal failure and inability to change, and give up. The only difference lies in your perspective.

7. Be Patient with Yourself Do you find your willpower waning when you don’t see results quickly enough? Remember that your goal is to effect lasting change, not to create changes as quickly as possible! Be realistic about what you can achieve, break the goal down into smaller, easier steps and focus on everything that you’re doing right – and don’t forget to praise yourself for your efforts! When you notice ANY positive differences at all (physical or emotional), write them down and enjoy the fact that each one represents another important step towards everything that the goal represents for you.

8. Get Extra Help If you’re still finding it very hard to stick with new habits, it may be because you’re holding on to unconscious negative beliefs which are thwarting your efforts to change. Remember, your unconscious mind controls 90% of your thoughts and feelings – so if you believe that you can do it, you probably will -and the reverse is also true)! If deep down you believe that you ‘have no willpower’, that you ‘can’t stick with anything’ or that you’re destined to fail, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll achieve that goal and stick with it, so it makes sense to address these beliefs with a professional who can guide you to let go of them once and for all. Many of the clients who come to see me for hypnotherapy are amazed at how much easier and more natural those changes seem once they’re no longer being held back by their own disempowering beliefs. If you’d like to find out more about how hypnotherapy could help you supercharge your mind and achieve more than you ever thought possible, visit www.kathryneales.co.uk or call 07522232501 now to book a free phone consultation!