{"id":2733,"date":"2019-01-06T10:45:17","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T15:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/?p=2733"},"modified":"2019-03-25T21:28:54","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T01:28:54","slug":"how-to-keep-up-with-your-2019-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog-alexis.monville.com\/en\/2019\/01\/06\/how-to-keep-up-with-your-2019-resolutions\/","title":{"rendered":"How to keep up with your 2019 resolutions!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year, I opened a brand new gym club on January 2nd! That was an immediate success with thousands of people showing up every day! At the beginning of February, I remodeled the place into a cocktail bar to satisfy the needs of my customers…<\/p>\n

Yes, it is a joke. But, what makes keeping up with our resolutions so hard?<\/p>\n

Kelly McGonigal<\/a> has an answer to that question. Kelly McGonigal, a Stanford University psychologist, taught the course “The Science of Willpower” for years, and she also published a book, The Willpower Instinct,<\/a> that explains the science of self-control and how it can be improved.<\/p>\n

We don’t keep up with our resolutions because we don’t pick the right ones for us. We choose things that we don’t want to do. Our “longer-term self” and our “shorter-term self” conflict the next day. We skip the day. We are then harsh our ourselves. It triggers guilt. Which in turn means that our “shorter-term self” seeks immediate comfort. The chances are that it finds it in the exact thing we want to stop doing or quit.<\/p>\n

Her practical tip<\/a> is to change the questions we ask ourselves. At the end of 2019, on January 1st, 2020, looking backward, what are you going to be grateful that you did? Is there a change you know that you\u2019re going to be glad you made? What would that feel like?<\/p>\n

The answers to those questions are better resolutions that you really want to keep.<\/p>\n

As hope is not a strategy, you still need to put in place a system that will help you keep with that new habit. One good strategy is outsourcing some of the willpower by involving a friend or a family member to do the activity with you. Another one that I particularly like is to put a calendar in a visible place and tick the day each time you succeed. And remember, don’t be hard on yourself when you miss a day. Accept it with self-compassion and go for it the next day!<\/p>\n

I wish you a Happy New Year with success in keeping up with your resolutions!<\/p>\n

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A few more words:<\/p>\n