The 1 reason why New Year's resolutions don't cut it

Let me start by saying Happy 2022 🎉

Making a New Year's resolution means looking at your life and what you want to change, do, or achieve. Surely that's a good thing. Yes, reviewing your life every now and then is a good thing. 

Thinking about resolutions can give you clarity about where you want to go with your life and behaviours. But making New Year's resolutions can do more harm than good.

The 1 big problem with making a New Year's resolution

You are very likely to fail

Data suggest only around 10% of people succeed with their New Year's resolution, and the majority fail before February. t is difficult to just get back on the horse, because this was a resolution for the entire year, it's very black and white – any small blip is a fail.

Moreover, you have failed early in the year, to achieve one of your plans for the entire year #notagreatstart. And you have probably been failing at the start of every year for as long as you have been making a New Year's resolution.

But isn't failing an opportunity for growth?

New Year's resolutions & failure

Failing provides a great opportunity to learn and grow. But it's a different scenario if you are are setting yourself up to fail, and there is little chance of success.

Repeated failure can not only be disappointing but can increase your belief that a goal is not achievable or you are not capable. 

The only thing to learn from failing at New Year's resolutions is not to make any more New Year's resolutions.

Why do New Year's resolutions fail?

There are a squillion blog posts on why New Year's resolutions fail, but let me just remind you that the trigger for your decision to lock in a new behaviour or goal is based on an arbitrary day in the year. Enough said.

4 alternatives to New Year's resolutions

1. Reflect on your year, your greatest successes your worst disasters and pinpoint some actions that worked and some that didn't

2. Try a micro sprint (AKA sprint in spurtz)

3. Clear the inbox. Move all emails (without reading them) from the past year out of your inbox

4. Party like it's 1999!

Do you agree? Have you been successful with a New-Year's resolution? Fill in the side-poll to see what you and other Sprint readers think.