Four Definitive Ways to Break Your Resolution Losing Streak

2) Set A Watch

On the Christian calendar, there is one other season that encourages “resolutions” – Lent. The season leading up to Easter. During this time, you will see many similar resolutions to what you’ll find at the beginning of the year. No chocolate. No Facebook. Exercise. Etc.

The difference is that Lent commitments have a much higher success rate over and against New Years resolutions. Why? One very simple reason:

Lent is forty days. There is a time-specific element to the oath. This is one of the five components of SMART goals.

The time it takes us to be convinced of positive change is greater than the time required to abandon negative practice. What this means is that it is easier for us to give up on the new thing than to give up on the old thing.

One way to combat this is to set a time-constraint on your resolution. Read every day for a month. Exercise once a week until Valentines Day. When your time is served, you can evaluate how you’ve feel about the change, if it has added value to your life, and if you want to re-up. In essence, this tricks us into buying more time to see the value of the changes we are making. The endorphins associated with keeping the goal will also help motivate us to continue. The daunting idea of eating kale forever is enough to make anyone throw in the towel in Round One. Just try to get through Round One with the kale and then go from there.