Starting small, leaning on others key to making resolutions last
By Harry Loomis
Most people break their New Year’s resolutions by the second Friday in January, known as National Quitters Day, but health experts say less than two weeks isn’t enough time for a person to see positive effects.
“For most people, it takes about two to three weeks for you to really instill a routine in not only your fitness, but in creating any new habit,” said Christy Mayfield, owner of Blush Fitness. “By the time you get to the first week here, you’re starting to notice the challenges that are coming up in your schedule with keeping a routine. We start to go back to some of our old habits.”
Whether the resolution involves a goal to get into shape or a plan to quit a bad habit, a common downfall stems from broad goals.
“Abstinence may be a longer-term goal,” said Kristina Hannon, co-CEO of the Family Guidance Center. “Quitting cold turkey, you’re not likely to be successful.”
As important as it is to be specific with your resolutions, it’s also important to find an environment that will push you to meet your goals, especially when it comes to quitting drugs or alcohol.
“If you don’t have a support system, you don’t have a plan in place, you may have a sense of failure that may encourage you to not try to quit again because people don’t want to feel like a failure,” Hannon said. “So that’s why we really approach it from a harm reduction point and say, okay, if you’re not ready to quit, cutting back is better.”
Having a support system is important for other goals, like fitness and exercise, as well.
“We help them come up with ways to keep themselves coming in, one way to do that is with workout buddies,” added Mayfield. “We’re going to keep on you and make sure you keep your healthy goals.”
While New Year’s resolutions are a good opportunity to make positive changes, they don’t need to be huge life changes right away. A smaller goal that’s easier to stick to can be more beneficial.
“What we really encourage people to do is to make small, incremental change,” Hannon said. “Those tend to be the most lasting changes.”
