Sing to the tune of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
It’s the most frustrating time of the year,
With resolutions we’re making,
Little chance that they’re taking,
Then back where we started — oh dear!
Yes, it’s the most deflating time of the year.
(Yes, this post will have a splash of humor added to it.)
The Post-Holiday Reality
After the excitement of the holidays are over, after the plates of goodies are eaten, after the celebrations are done, many of us start the year thinking,
“This is the year everything will be different.”
And often, right at the top of that list? Health and wellness. That’s a worthwhile goal. No argument there. But here’s a clue that something isn’t working… January is the busiest month of the year for gyms, while February is the biggest drop-off.
That should tell us something.
It’s Not a Motivation Problem
This isn’t about desire. People want to be healthier. The problem is preparation. Think about it, we’re trying to change our lives at the busiest, coldest, darkest time of the year. With no real plan. And then acting surprised when it doesn’t stick.
I’m going to start a little series on how to set goals that actually work. These posts won’t be every week; I still want to have the occasional rant about raising a juvenile T1D monster. (Did I say that?! I meant to have the privilege of gloating about my T1D Warrior.) But it will be thorough. The way I see it, we’ve got the rest of our lives to be healthy; we can afford to take a few posts to get it right.
Why Your Resolutions Don’t Work
When people say they’ve made a New Year’s resolution, most of the time they haven’t. They’ve made an intention. And while intentions and resolutions are related, they are not the same thing. And that’s where things fall apart. An intention is something you hope or plan to do. It’s flexible. It’s aspirational. A resolution is a firm decision or promise. It carries commitment and action.
Put simply, intentions focus on desire, resolutions focus on action. So if we say, “My resolution is to get healthier,”
and we abandon it two weeks later… It wasn’t a resolution.
The Missing Piece: Planning
So we have an intention, now we can jump to resolution, right? Hold on, Sparky. You’re still missing something. And that something missing from both intention and resolution is a plan. Another way to think about it:
Intention sets the direction. Planning maps the route. Resolution commits you to taking the trip.
When we make a resolution to “get healthier,” we’re trying to jump straight to the destination, without directions,
without supplies, and without checking the weather. I mean, let’s think about it for a second. As people who live with diabetes, we travel with twice as many pump supplies as we need when we take a trip, have fruit snacks tucked in at least one of the pockets of every one of our jackets, and have juice boxes stashed in the car.
And we don’t understand how our resolutions don’t work? Come on.
Have I Missed My Chance?
So all of this sounds like something that takes longer than an afternoon, right? Yes, gold star for you. It does and should take time. To make resolutions for the first of the year that stick, ideally, we’d set our intentions in early December, spend a few weeks planning, and then make our resolutions. If something is as important as making resolutions and sticking to them, you need to invest time in thinking about what you really want, how you can get there, what roadblocks can potentially come up, and how you’ll get around them.
So if you’re thinking, “Well… rats. Now what?” Don’t despair. Here’s the good news: This process can start at any time of the year. (Ok, now cue the fireworks).
What’s Coming Next
What I’m proposing is simple:
- First, we’ll talk about intentions — what they are, how many to have, and how to choose them
(the ingredients) - Then, we’ll tackle planning — what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid common traps
(choosing the recipe) - And finally, we’ll get to resolutions — the commitment piece, the follow-through, the icing on the cake.
Because this year doesn’t need another failed resolution. It just needs a better process.
Yummy!