Rarely in the history of mankind has anything had as high a failure rate as New Year’s Resolutions. (Is there anything out there that fails more? Sure, but they’d have to be pushing a 100% rate of failure … say, for instance, financial advisors, spam email, and possibly this season’s Cleveland Browns).
So what is the failure rate for New Year’s Resolutions? In numerous studies the failure rate ranges anywhere from 35% (seriously underestimated) to 98% (which is a bit high). In reality it’s around 90 to 93% (averaging a lot of studies I’m not listing here because, let’s face it, this isn’t an academic paper, so you’re going to have to trust me on this).
Why do people fail to keep their New Year’s Resolutions? Well, about 40% set unrealistic goals, 35% failed to keep track of their progress, about 20% forgot their resolutions (seriously), and the remainder made too many resolutions to keep.
With that in mind, guess what the most popular resolution is and, therefore, the one with the most failures? Go ahead, guess. We’ll wait.
It was three goals condensed into a single group – exercise, lose weight, eat healthy.
So, does that mean you should not make a resolution such as exercising more, getting in shape, and losing weight because you’re destined to fail?
Absolutely not.
Here’s why. The success rates of resolutions went up when people had set realistic goals and those goals had smaller, more easily attainable stages. For example, if one makes a resolution to run 26 miles and on Jan. 2nd they try to run a marathon even though they’re overweight, have not run in years (if at all), and their body redefines “out of shape”, a quarter of a mile into it they stop, are exhausted, out of breath, and possibly in the early stages of a heart attack. But, if they began with walking a little at first and then maybe built up to jogging a little ways, and then maybe a little ways further, before they know it they will have done a total of 26 miles. Success rates also went up when people had support.
There’s no law that says you have to do it all at once and no law that says you have to do it on your own.
So, how can you resolve to get in shape, work out, and lose weight or build muscle, and be successful doing it? Start with small steps. Your first step may be as simple as joining a fitness center / gym. That’s easy to do. Go into a place, take a tour if you’d like, sign your name a couple of times, and presto, you’re done with step one! See there? Your first goal is accomplished! Your next step may be to set more goal stages, maybe meet with someone who can help you set achievable goals and provide a way for you to monitor your progress. As you achieve each goal you learn more and more about exercise, healthy habits, and most importantly, you learn more about yourself. Before you know it you are well on your way to achieve your goals and more likely to go further than you ever dared imagine.
It all starts with having the right tools to help you get there and that’s what we are here for. Pinamonti Fitness Center has the best equipment, the best trainers, the best monitoring tools, and the best staff to help you achieve your goals. That’s a lot of “bests”, but we can claim that because we can back it up. Check us out and we’ll show you how.
Move toward your goals. Join us and see how we can help you can make your New Year’s Resolution happen every day.
Movement is life. Join the movement.
