Why I haven’t made any new year resolutions

Instead, I’m going to be building habits for success

Photo by Hester Qiang on Unsplash

I’d like to say it’s a new year and new start and all that except the new year crept up far too quickly and I wasn’t very prepared. In fact, I got caught with my trousers down so to speak so I feel like I’m playing catch up just to get this year kickstarted.

I’ve never really been someone who makes new year resolutions. I’ve probably made half-hearted ones in the past but I’ve also known how hard they are to stick to.

Let’s take the classic, I’m going to eat better and lose weight resolution. How many people have tried that one and then slid rather ungracefully off the proverbial wagon? You’ve stuffed your face all over Christmas and then suddenly forced yourself to eat soup for January. It’s doomed to fail!

I’m a habitual snacker.

I know where most of my weight issues lie, it’s because I snack a lot in the afternoons. Crisps are a bit of a downfall for me and then there are the biscuits with my afternoon cuppa. But it’s not really what I’m eating that I should be most concerned about.

It’s why I’m eating what I eat.

Work that out and I can find ways to change the habit I’ve gotten into. It’s not just that I’m a greedy pig. It’s partly because I keep the snacks with easy reach. It’s partly because I’m not keeping myself too occupied to think about food. It’s partly a comfort thing. It’s partly because it has become a habit.

Once I can understand why I do what I do, I can make changes to remedy them. I can keep my snacks out of reach. I can try forcing myself to concentrate hard on my work for twenty minutes when I feel a snack attack come on and then re-assess after my work sprint. I can find other ways to bring comfort.

I can change the habit loop.

Habits and routines are building blocks

If you’ve ever had music lessons or know of someone who has, then you’ll be aware of scales. Sets of notes in different keys that musicians make a habit of practising.

The thing about repeatedly playing scales is that they improve your ability to play music…