New Year, New You! How are Those Resolutions Going?

Time for a Change

Happy New Year everyone! I was told that I can still say that during the first fifteen days of the year. I wanted to make my first blog post count so I thought I would speak a little about resolutions. Every year, including this one, many have made resolutions to do or be something different than they were the previous year. The desire for resolutions comes from the deep seeded desire to change. A resolution is in effect a promise to change.

Yet eleven days into the year, I am almost certain that some have made resolutions they haven’t started yet. Or some have started and eleven days in, they’ve already quit. Others started strong and have begun to lose momentum, motivation, and have met resistance and will quit soon enough. In the end, statistically speaking, most people do not keep their promise to change. They are not resolute.

The question is, why? Why do we fizzle out so quickly, or give up before we’ve even begun? The biggest reason why we do not keep our promises is because, we don’t understand the nature and structure of change. Change will not happen unless your current dissatisfaction, unhappiness, frustrations, (fill in your own word here), with your present situation, exceeds the comfort of that very situation, the change you seek JUST WON’T HAPPEN.

Why is Change so Hard?

It is a counterintuitive concept, but we really don’t realize how easily we can become comfortable with the status quo, even when we know it may not be in our best interest.

It is not enough merely to dislike what is currently happening to us, or dislike who we are or whom we have become. It is not enough to wish for things to be different. We wish upon stars all the time. Magical thinking is fun but does not cause anyone to change. It is not enough to have cheerleaders who offer their encouragement for our change. Knowing that we need to change is not enough either, though knowing is half the battle. Finally, knowing what forces are aligned to stop us from changing is not enough.

All these factors must be understood and appropriately aligned for planned change to take place. It will take the combined strength of all these factors to ensure that change occurs, is effective, and most importantly-- that it lasts. Failing to address these factors will assuredly result in inertia and defeat in keeping your resolution. Eventually, it gets easier to not keep promises in other areas of our lives.

At KNUSTART we address all of the factors that keep you stuck. KNUSTART is an online relationship and resiliency coaching organization that helps adults build and sustain lasting and healthy relationships with themselves, others, and their challenges.

During the next few weeks, we will be discussing these factors and more as we seek to help you keep your promise and meet your goals this year. Of course, if you need a coach to help you on your journey, we are here to help you.

#lifecoaching #newyearsresolution