A shocking 80% of people end up giving up on their New Year’s resolutions in February. Carolyn Adams Miller, ” big goaljoin TheStreet to reveal the research-backed strategies that separate successful goal-setters from February quitters.
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The complete video text is as follows:
Conway Gittens: So we’ve been doing some digging. Some of our estimates find that around 80% of people end up abandoning their New Year’s resolutions in February. So why are New Year’s resolutions so hard to stick to?
Carolyn Adams Miller: Well, actually, they usually abandon their resolutions before Blue Monday, which is the third Monday in January, because often the biggest mistake people make is setting too many self-regulation goals and not setting set whatever goals they set correctly. So our willpower is limited. So you don’t want to set a million goals that require delaying gratification and saying no to yourself, or even three. Set a goal and also set a clear goal. That’s what my new book is about, because I don’t think most people know that goal setting is a science. It’s more than just setting a goal. There is more to do.
Conway Gittens: Tell me what’s your top tip for truly sticking to your New Year’s resolutions. You have these performance goals. You have these learning goals. How do I persist now?
Carolyn Adams Miller: Okay, the first thing to do is get specific. Be specific. Know exactly what you are driving for. There is no ambiguity. Second, don’t set too many willpower goals. By noon you will have exhausted all your willpower. If you’re constantly choosing between donuts or something else. Skip exercise. You only have so much willpower. Stick to 1, and research shows you’re more likely to make progress in all other areas. Change your circles. Make sure you surround yourself with people who support you and whose actions are contagious and help you achieve your goals and measure them. Measure what matters. There is always an indicator to tell you that you are getting warmer or you are getting colder because you may need to make adjustments. You may have to abandon your goal because circumstances suddenly don’t support it. Your life has changed. Always know how to set exit criteria because things change.
Otherwise, you fall into what I call “foolish courage,” where you persevere in the face of so many obstacles that it doesn’t make sense anymore. So there is good perseverance, but there is also stupid perseverance. So you have to know when to quit. But you also need to be resilient on the way to achieving your goals. So there’s a difference between giving up just because it feels harder and not giving up. Your brain tells you, I’ve never done this before. You need to have a set of standards in your brain that no longer fit my life. I really need to change the plumbing in my head to get into a growth mindset and tell myself that I can overcome this desire to get out of the pool. It’s too difficult. It’s so hard to learn artificial intelligence and integrate it with my job. So there is a difference. So it makes it blurry. Measure your progress. Instead of setting too many willpower goals, surround yourself with contagiously positive people who support you and may even possess qualities you want to learn from them.
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