The new normal after months of confinement in the post-COVID-19 era has led many people to rethink their lives, what they had always wanted to do and did not do , the harmful habits they would have liked to abandon …
Is it your case? Have you considered quitting smoking during the confinement? Improve your diet? Be firm once when it comes to going to the gym? Start saving more? And it is that, in part, these times are reminiscent of a long New Year. At times like this, almost half of adults make lists of resolutions that, later, only one in ten gets to fulfill during the following months. Especially if it refers to daily behaviors and that we have strongly rooted in our day to day. If you don’t want it to be your case and you are looking to find a way to remain true to your goals, read carefully.
The psychologist and professor of Addiction Behaviors at Nottingham Trent University, Mark Griffiths , explains that something that most people sin is the so-called “false hope syndrome” , which consists of setting unrealistic expectations in matters of scope, speed or complexity. Being so impossible to achieve, they end up demotivating and leading to the abandonment of goals. In order not to fall into this, Griffiths proposes some keys that will make the process easier and more productive :
It is important that you set goals that, even if they are smaller, you can ensure that you will meet little by little. This way you will divide a larger goal into small steps and, as you fulfill them, you will feel a more immediate and continuous satisfaction than focusing only on the long term.
Griffiths recommends that your goal is not too global , for example, “to be a healthy person.” Download it and do things one at a time. For example, start first by quitting smoking; when you have achieved it, start having a healthier diet; Once this is done, you can consider going to the gym, and so on.
In line with the previous key, it is important that you define your objectives well , with clear limits on what they will consist of. For example, if you want to lose weight, don’t think that your goal is simply to “lose weight.” Set yourself a more or less specific volume of kilos, although it is indicative, as well as the period of time in which you plan to do it.
Sharing your purposes will motivate you to commit to them and will allow the people around you to give you their support when you feel moments of weakness.
If you are in an environment where other people , whether they are your friends, your family or your partner, behave in the way that you aspire (for example, they do not smoke) or if they commit to fulfill the same purpose as you , it will be easier for you to instill motivation in each other.
And remember to accept the moments of weakness . During these processes, which are often tough, we tend to fail from time to time and relapse into bad habits that we want to leave behind. However, it is very important that you do not punish yourself for this, that you accept that it is normal for it to happen and that you do not abandon the process for having failed on time in something. Take advantage of it to learn from your mistakes.
