HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Fremont, California comes out as one of the highest cities in the USA for keeping New Year’s Resolutions according to research, while Detroit is among the lowest. 

It is an interesting correlation that Fremont has the lowest percentage of obese adults and Detroit has the highest.  We are not going to dissect those isolated pieces of research just now but merely cast the Figtree Products eye over the art of the yearly resolution.

From the Resolution to the Goal to the Plan
You can’t avoid it.  Everywhere the world is shouting at you to write your goals down. Without goals you won’t succeed. The most successful people are those who write their goals down, etc. etc.

​Well, the next part of the goal is the plan which is all fine and good. But unless that plan includes exactly what you are going to do and when you are going to do it step-by-step, it has little chance of happening and if you don’t stick to it, it is doomed to fall by the wayside. That is why it also needs to be realistic – within reason!

Psychological Self-Sabotage?
If we do it properly, the goals we make are the set of instructions we give ourselves, but nobody likes being told what to do even by ourselves!  

Is this the psychological self-sabotage that causes them to fall off even before January’s out! The hardest person to discipline is yourself and that could be the issue.

But don’t beat yourself up.  Let’s look at the top 3 goals that keep coming back and back for more like losing weight, exercising more and spending less.
 
Diets that start on 1 January are doomed to fail!
So you’re going to lose weight? And you are checking out the best diets of 2024 because you can’t decide whether to do the Keto Diet or the DASH Diet.

But to start a diet on l January is just plain silly. Why?

• You still have chocolate, cookies, and cake left over from Christmas plus a ton of other goodies that need finishing up because you most likely bought too much and it’s simply wasteful to throw it away.
• Unless you live near the equator, it’s cold out there. You appreciate and enjoy the comfort food when it’s dark, grey and miserable. And unless you are one of those hardy types – and there are plenty - who are out running come rain or shine, those cold, grey days are just not going to get you going.
• Nature itself is still in hibernation mode – and you are too.

Choose to start your diet at Lent and you will stand a better chance of succeeding. Plus you can get that grill going again after its spring clean!

You are going to do more Exercise
By nature humans tend to seek out the easy route: the quick fix; the get rich quick hype. Surely it is easy enough to find an hour a few times a week to go to the gym, or take a walk. The trouble is, it’s even easier not to!  
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Pleasure over Pain and Its Consequences
We are creatures of habit and will choose pleasure over pain at any cost. Whether it is unpaid debt, unattended appointments or simply failure to address small things, the result is inevitable. What starts off as a minor issue will gradually accumulate into a mountain of problems you never even knew you were creating.

66 Days
Some of latest research says it takes 66 days to form a new habit. What are your poor habits that are stopping you?

So remember, it’s a CHOICE. You can choose to continue the insanity route out of habit or write what you are going to do in your calendar NOW, not tomorrow! 
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And it’s individual to you.  Are you looking for the answer to your deficiencies on the internet like you chase your horoscope? Or will you put in the effort and create your own year?

Spend less money
More difficult than it looks or not?

With outgoings that always increase and income that seems to dwindle every year, it looks like we are fighting a losing battle or is it the pleasure over pain principle again?  A few things you can think about are:

• Cut back on magazine and video subscriptions you don’t need
• Cut the unhealthy extras out of your shopping lists
• Grow your own vegetables
• Don’t buy new cars
• Negotiate on prices everywhere where possible

Balance
Overall, practise balance. Extreme austerity is both undesirable, unsustainable and unenjoyable.

Remember that.

And if you need an app to help you keep those resolutions, here are a couple of suggestions.
http://bit.ly/2mtpIyU

So what are you waiting for? 

Oh and incidentally, if you are considering spring cleaning that grill, you can get our grill cleaning brush at HALF PRICE when you buy both the Grill Set and the brush together during January and up to Valentine’s Day/start of Lent.  They make a great gift together.

Happy 2024!