HOW TO KEEP A RESOLUTION?
How to keep a resolution?
What I’m going to say might sound like a brag, but: I’m truly great at sticking to my resolutions. It’s really easy to me. I mean it. And I’m not saying that in order to boast, I’m saying that to show you that it is possible. That if I can do it, you can do it too. For a long time I thought everyone could stick to their resolution or easily build a new habit, but then I noticed that not necessarily. As a result, I kept analysing what was so different about me, and I noticed a few things.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- MAKE THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR PROMISE VITAL
- YOUR ‘WHY’ HAS TO BE STRONG ENOUGH
- CHOOSE YOUR STEPS WISELY
- MY STORY EXAMPLE
1. MAKE THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR PROMISE VITAL
The phrase “I promise” is widely used but more often than not this phrase is used indiscriminately. The thing is, however, one of the key things is to make your own promises enormously important to your brain. How many times have promised something to yourself or to someone else and yet you didn’t keep your word? It’s because to your brain the significance of the phrase “I promise” is low.
So, how to change the status of “I promise”?
We start with small steps and with something simple. For instance, you say ‘Today I’ll clean for 5 minutes, I promise’. That day you need to clean no matter what. No matter if you’re tired, you’re in a bad mood, or all you want is to go to sleep.
If you practice this daily then your brains will start learning that whenever you make a promise, then there’s no other way but to honour it because it’s a promise.
Remember about choosing something small at the beginning and only in reference to the nearest future.
Think again before you make a promise
To me, the significance of the phrase “I promise” is immense, so before I say it to anyone, including myself, I consider it carefully. If I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to do something, I simply say that ‘I’ll try to do it.’
YOUR ‘WHY’ HAS TO BE STRONG ENOUGH
When we want something or we set a goal, our ‘WHY’ has to be strong enough. What I mean by saying ‘WHY’ is the reason why you desire something, and trust me, the reason must be a powerful one, because sticking to a habit needs a lot of strength from within you. So, if so far you haven’t been able to stick to a habit, then I’d like you to answer these questions:
Do you TRULY want it? Does your heart grow whenever you think about having “the thing”? Or do you feel a sickening feeling at the pit of your stomach?
Sometimes, we crave something simply because our friends desire something, and so we might think that if only we could have it/ do it, we’d be able to impress them and it’d be so cool.
Unfortunately, this is not how it works. I’ll give you a life example. I once knew a man, Andrew, whose dream was to start his own glazed balconies business. Why? Well, not that Andrew was interested in balconies or anything like that, but simply because his friend had such a business and was highly successful. The end of the story was easy to foresee. Andrew’s business failed pretty quickly, and he got interested in something else his friends liked.
What matters is what YOU want.
Why is it so crucial?
Now, I’ll share my own story. I used to love sweets. Immensely. To me a huge bar of chocolate was just like a tiny snack; I could eat loads of sweets during one day. But at the same time, I wanted to lead a healthy lifestyle. Sugar and a healthy lifestyle? Not a very good combination, I know. So I wanted to quit sugar, but I couldn’t. Why? Because still my desire to eat sweets was stronger. I saw more advantages of eating sweets than of not eating sugar.
But KNOWLEDGE IS POWER.
At some point I started having certain health problems due to the amount of sugar I consumed every day.
That was first vital stimulus that pushed me into learning more about the negative effects of sugar.
So I drilled down the topic. You know, before that I’d known that sugar was unhealthy, but I hadn’t fully realised that until I read loads of articles on the matter. And that’s super important : TO REALISE. Knowing that something is true, and realizing that something is true are two totally different things. If you know something, you just possess the knowledge in your head, but it doesn’t affect you whatsoever, it doesn’t influence your feelings, attitude, nor your behaviour.
Knowing that something is true, and realizing that something is true are two totally different things.
The moment of realisation, however, is something like a wake-up call. It hits you and slaps you in the face. And that does affect your behaviour.
So, once I finally realised how bad sugar is to health, I found this burning motivation inside of me. Suddenly, the advantages of not eating sugar outbalanced the drawbacks. Then, when you have this burning motivation, you need to combine it with a proper strategy – small steps first.
CHOOSE YOUR STEPS WISELY
Small steps! Throwing yourself into a new habit or lifestyle is a very simple recipe for a disaster. Of course, I know the stories of people who, for instance, quit smoking overnight and then they often say that any strategies are worthless, but it’s not true. Besides, I reckon that whoever is reading this, is struggling with sticking to resolutions.
So what do I mean by saying small steps?
To explain that, I’ll continue my story of quitting sugar.
MY NO SUGAR LIFE
Disclaimer: The steps and the description below are provided for information, educational, and entertainment purposes only. The information is no substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a doctor before changing your diet or implementing any changes regarding your health.
I was perfectly aware of my addiction to sugar, so at first I simply cut down on sugar and allowed myself to eat 3 cubes of dark chocolate per day. I still drank coffee and tea with sugar. But I started to eat more fruit.
FIRST TWO WEEKS (week 1 and 2)
- 3 cubes of dark chocolate per day
- the same amount of sugar in coffee and tea
- forcing myself to eating fruit
Then after 2 weeks I reduced the number of dark chocolate cubes to 1 per day. Instead of 1 teaspoon of sugar in my coffee, I started adding half as much.
WEEK 3 and 4
- 1 cube of dark chocolate per day
- half the normal amount of sugar in my tea or coffee
- eating a lot of fruit
I won’t lie – the first two weeks weren’t that bad, but then I started to be tired all the time, plus I kept fantasizing about cookies, chocolate etc. during almost any activity.
MONTH 2
- 1 cube of dark chocolate every other day
- drinking tea without sugar, adding ¼ of the normal amount of sugar to my coffee
- drinking fruit shakes every day – pineapple, banana and strawberries are a good choice due to their sweetness (only fresh or frozen fruit, not processed one)
MONTH 3-4
- 1 cube of dark chocolate once a week
- drinking tea without sugar, adding even less that ¼ of the normal amount of sugar to my coffee
- fruit shakes… fruit shakes…
MONTH 5-6
- 1 cube of dark chocolate per month
- no sugar in my coffee or tea
- fruit shakes
MONTH 6
Elimination of other sources of sugar – flavoured beer, ketchup etc. – searching for products free of sugar, cane sugar, high-fructose corn syrup etc. It requires reading the list of ingredients, but after some time it becomes effortless. And yes, you CAN find sugar free products.
MONTH 7 – 12
- elimination of other products with sugar, like wheat rolls etc.
- no alcohol with sugar.
Now, as you can see it takes time. Seriously. Plus, I was tired for like 6 months and was kinda obsessed with thinking about cookies.
But you know what it’s like when you don’t eat sugar? It’s FABULOUS! Before quitting sugar, I thought I was doomed to feel an eternal lust for sugar, that it would be a torment to look at cookies etc. but surprise, surprise… it’s not like that at all.
At some point you realise that you feel nothing when you look at cookies or chocolate. You’re indifferent. It’s like they were stones or something. You don’t feel hunger. Plus you feel energized all the time, your complexion is much prettier, you discover new flavours as well – suddenly it appears that milk is very sweet, that fruits can even be too sweet sometimes. And when you think of white sugar, you feel even disgusted a bit.
Suddenly drinking milk with pure cocoa (NO SUGAR!) is so sweet that you feel satisfied for a few days.
And now the most important – the feeling of pride and self-satisfaction is the most rewarding. It’s sometimes like jumping off a cloud onto another cloud. Of course, please remember that if you want to implement any changes regarding your health, first it’s recommended to consult a doctor.
A tiny conclusion on how to keep a resolution
When it comes to keeping a resolution, the bottom line is that after some time you don’t even need to think about sticking to it anymore. The whole practice stops being a toil, it becomes a new reality, something normal. And it’s rewarding. You think about your achievement and smile, because now keeping a promise is fun for your brain. But as you can see it demands certain amount of effort from you, so you really need to want it. Find your powerful ‘WHY’ and teach your brain to prioritise your promises.
Go to Topic Map
