New Year Old Ways

For the first time in several years, I decided not to create a list of New Year's Resolutions. If I did, I would be carrying over many of the things I had on last year's list.

According to Psychology Professor Chris McManus from University College in London in, I am a part of the majority when it comes to people who create "to do" lists but fail to keep them.

Here is a brief summary of what the British Professor says are some of the reasons we fail to follow through on our resolutions:

1 - Sometimes we don’t really want to change.
Think about the goals you set as each New Year approaches. Perhaps you want to walk more, Smoke less, or eat more veggies. Your reasons for doing so may be good, but deep inside you may not really want to make that change at all. The gap between what you hope to accomplish and what you actually wish to do can prevent you from reaching your goal.

2 - Your resolution may be a fantasy.
Many of us have dreams of how our lives can be. Your resolution may only be a wish that you hope to do one day. It is nice to say that you are in favor of changing a certain behavior, but you haven’t made any real commitment to making that change.

3 - You lack a time frame.
It' easy to put off a commitment if you haven’t set a specific time goal. If you really want to keep this year’s resolution, be sure to think about how you plan to fit it into your current schedule. Set a real goal with a starting and end time.

The most interesting thing about all of this is that regardless of how many times we have failed, most of us will make new resolutions next year ad be optimistic--even if just for a little while.

How many New Year's Resolutions have you made good on in your life?