New year, New you? Are NY's resolutions utter BS?

Micro Goals for long term behaviour change

Disclaimer: Excuse my horrible manicure. I promise I got it sorted right after! :P

We are programmed to GO BIG OR GO HOME when it comes to setting health goals for ourselves and the same applies to New Year's Resolutions. The result is often giving up before we start, as big goals require daunting efforts to accomplish & sustain.

For example:

"I will lose 15Kgs by the end of March 2022" or

"I will sleep 9 hrs a night from Jan 2nd 2022" or

"I will start working out from Monday for a few months!"

Instead the way to achieve big is to start SMALL - through micro goals.

I accumulated small but consistent habits that ultimately led to results that were unimaginable when I first started -James Clear, Atomic Habits.

So when my clients ask me whether New Year's Resolutions are bullshit, my thoughts are that it is a smart practice to set health goals for the year and by all means use the new year as your kick start!

BUT, in my experience, the following will make or break your success:

Take your long-term health goal and break it up into bite sized, more manageable micro goals that work for you.
Make your micro goal a SMART goal. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.
Decide how you will hold yourself accountable. For example: Calendar scheduled weekly check-ins with yourself, a friend or even with a health coach
Track progress and revisit goals. For example: Weekly check-ins with yourself, Mid-year and end-of-year reviews. (you say JEEZZZ! yes guys, set google calendar reminders or if you are a nerd like me get a weekly planner! :D)
Write it down. This is magic for our brains! A study found that those who reflected, wrote down and told their friends about a goal and later updated them on their progress had a 76% success rate over those who did not!