Juggernaut Resolution
One of the things I have always struggled with, and I’m sure you’ll relate to this, is sticking to New Year resolutions.
For me, the resolutions have been different at different stages of my life – From the childhood “This year, I’ll make it to a school sports team” to the college-life “This year, I’ll ace Chemistry”, to “This year, I’ll call family and friends at least once a week” to “This year, I’ll read at least 5 books” to the cliched and most recent – “This year, I’ll lose at least 5 kg”.
Whatever the resolution, the outcome has been a sad constant – A Broken Resolution.
I always attributed my failures to a lack of will-power – which may have been true but seemingly wasn’t the biggest contributor to the reason I was failing. I always tried building the will-power to hold on for that one extra moment, take that one extra step, write that one more word, finish reading that one book, walk that one extra mile. No matter how much I prodded myself, I just couldn’t do it.
So, this year I tried something different. Instead of setting a ‘New Year resolution’, I set a ‘Year End Resolution’.
On the 1st of December, I told myself that I must lose at least 7 kg and there started my journey. After I started, there were several days when I couldn’t get myself to wake up to hit the gym; Days when I couldn’t resist the delicious jalebis; Days when I succumbed to the temptation of the Chicken Biriyani. But most importantly – All these failures were still happening in the Old Year.
The failures, the lapses were all part of all my previous New Year resolutions too but the problem was that one lapse would send me spiraling into a series of lapses. Once the first drop of water leaks, the rest just keep following uncontrollably. So, if I failed once, the next time I was faced with a similar predicament – My brain would immediately tell me – “You’ve already broken once, it doesn’t matter any more. There’s a whole year left to course correct( which obviously never happened.)”
But this time, it was different. This time, I started well before the New Year began. All the initial hiccups were still happening, but only in the old year! By the time is was 12/31 – I had lost roughly 1 kg which wasn’t much but the more important outcome was that the momentum had been built. I was moving into to the New Year with Momentum!
The habit of waking up had been built; The habit of drinking water had been built; The habit of eating small portions and saying ‘No’ to sugar had been built. I was starting the New Year with a Resolution that already had built momentum. A sort of a ‘Juggernaut Resolution’.
Not just the momentum but also the motivation was there and not just in my mind but also on the mirror for me to see!
They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. So when 2020 kicked in, it was already more than 30 days since I had started. I moved in with momentum, motivation and the habit of winning! I feel more positive that I’m going to hit my milestone this year. I think that feeling of positivity is a major difference from the past years. I know it’s only 11 days into this year but unlike past years, I can already see the change, the new habits feel more naturally embedded in my routine and don’t feel forced anymore. Of course, the urge to grab a cheat meal or skip a day at the Gym is still there but saying ‘No’ to those urges doesn’t give me withdrawal symptoms anymore.
In summary, try to start working on your resolution well in advance so that when you reach the intended start date, you’ve already ‘Built Momentum’, ‘Seen partial results’, ‘Formed a habit’. With this combination, the chances to relapse and the urge to go back to your old ways is much lesser.
2020 may have already started but there’s still the 1st day of 11 more months remaining this year. Not that the date matters but the human psyche does demand milestones and deadlines to stay motivated. You can still try a ‘New Month Resolution’ and start working on it right away! May the force be with you!
Let me know if this helped you.
Cheerio!