by
Janet Shlaes, Ph.D.
Today is the day when many generate New Year’s resolutions
that are destined to fail. I track this every year at my local health club.
For the first two weeks of January, it’s unbelievably crowded. As the
month progresses, the crowds dissipate at an alarmingly (and comforting) rapid
rate. This tendency is repeated in a variety of personal and professional arenas as well intended New Year’s
Resolutions fall apart. Why, you may ask, does this situation repeatedly occur
at this time of year? Resolutions, although well intentioned, tend to be overly ambitious
aspirational goals rather than more realistic and pragmatic ones. They tend to focus more on
the idealized outcome than on the process of building sustainable outcomes.
I recommend a highly effective alternative to New Year's resolutions, a
process oriented alternative that facilitates the development
of habits that align with aspirational goals. This process is known as a 30-Day
Challenge. It takes approximately 30 days to develop a new habit,
30-days for your brain to rewire and shift your aspirational goal into your daily routine. Resolutions tend to be unrealistically grand, while
30-Day Challenges focus more on developing habits that support your aspirational
goals. Taking on a
30-Day Challenge around health and fitness recognizes that fitness is a process
that requires gradually improving your health and strength over time. For example, if your goal is to improve your
fitness level in the current year and you’ve been habitually sedentary in the
prior year, your 30-day challenge might be to walk for 15-20 minutes every day
for 30 days. Staging your aspirational goal of health and fitness via a 30-Day
Challenge results in setting up a structure to increase the probability of
success, rather than the likelihood of failure.
The 30-Day Challenge structure utilizes the construct of
neuroplasticity to organically restructure your brain. It also facilitates the
building of positive self-esteem and appreciation for process. As you stage
your aspirational goals via a series of 30-Day Challenges, you will ultimately find
yourself accomplishing goals that may have seemed unobtainable in the past. What aspirational
goal could you choose to take on as a series of 30-Day Challenges this year?
For addition insights
and observations, I invite you to check out the following posts:
No comments:
Post a Comment