Why can't I stick to my goals?

Happy New Year! You’ve soaked in the first day, the first weekend and the first Monday of the New Year - how are your resolutions holding up?

The voice on social media and in your head that constantly talks about ‘New Year, New You’ misunderstood one thing about you. You don’t need to turn a new leaf, because you’re great where you are, exactly how you are. You don’t need to move mountains or go from 0-100 to prove your worth. You made it through and that is enough. If you’re wondering how to strive to be a better version of yourself or wondering how to set resolutions that will last, you’re at the right place.

Resolutions vs Intentions: What’s the catch?

Resolutions are defined as firm decisions to do or avoid something, which sets the stage for black or white, success or failure. A week of not going to the gym leads us to believe that we failed the resolution of ‘exercising every day’, setting in the vicious cycle of demotivation.

Intentions, on the other hand, are defined as an aim or a plan, that allows you flexibility and a peek at the minute details during the planning process. Here the goal shifts from ‘exercising daily’ to asking what exercising daily lead to (healthy lifestyle, weight loss, movement, etc) and what are the different ways to plan and achieve this.

How to build habits that stay?

The Reductionism Theory (Descartes, 1662) teaches us that when you break a larger concept into smaller parts it becomes more achievable and serves as a positive reinforcement to keep moving forward to the other parts. This means your intention of, say, self-care is met by counting people closest to you, saying 2 nice things about yourself, calling a loved one to check-in, etc.

Intentions are gentle and compassionate ways of nudging yourself to be a refined version of yourself. They avoid the pitfall of resolutions which are vague or big unrealistic goals, by having specific and achievable targets.

Eating healthy is a great resolution, but by being intentional with your eating habits and having a plan - eat a salad once a week, have no more than 2 sodas in a month and limit sugar to once a week - you can tick small accomplishments which will fuel you to achieve more. It allows you to focus on the step in front of you and not the whole staircase.

Our prediction for you in 2022 is that you’re going to break away from the norms and chains that have been held up for decades. Our belief in you states that you’re no longer going to set unrealistic resolutions of exercising every day, eating healthy, perfecting your sleep pattern and mastering the little things of life. Instead, this year, you’ll be more present with small moments of your day. The best resolutions are the ones you can actually keep, and you can do that by turning them into intentions.

We, at Mindpeers, have a special gift to get you started on this journey: Habit Tracker, a tool to help your intended habits become hobbies.