RAVEN LIRIO;Â Mag Writer;Â liriov@plu.edu
The sun sits high up in the sky, shining cascading rays into the early hours of the day as the birds are chirping and blossoms pop up from hibernation—spring has arrived. As we transition out of our winter coats, it is the time to reflect on resolutions and promises we made to ourselves at the beginning of the year. Have you been able to follow what you set out to do?
Less than 10 percent of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions. Why is it so hard to keep these resolutions? More often than not, people tend to set unrealistic goals for themselves, which already sets them up for failure. By failing to plan ahead, goals can slip out of our reach right from the beginning.
While planning ahead can be a daunting task, there exists a model called the “Stages of Change Model,” which can aid in ensuring behavioral change.The order is as follows: precontemplative, contemplative, determination, action and maintenance.
The precontemplative stage is when an individual has not thought about changing at all. After this is the contemplative stage, in which an individual begins to consider making a change. This is where most people start their resolutions and it is here where things can go wrong. The next step is determination, where an individual creates a viable plan to complete their goal. Most people completely skip this step and jump right into the action stage, which is actually taking the actions to make the change happen. Without the properly planning, this is where many people give up. The final stage is the maintenance stage, which is continuing or maintaining the new changes in your life.
Don’t take a lapse as a complete failure and an excuse to completely give up. Nobody is perfect.
-Professor Ceynar
The majority of resolutions are specifically health-related. People create resolutions to exercise more, lose weight, obtain visible abs and various other goals that take more time than they initially planned.
“In the case of exercise, many people fail to continue exercising for a host of reasons, including the expectation that years of sedentary behaviors can be overcome in a short period of time, which is unrealistic,” Clinical Instructor Lynn Tucker said. “It takes roughly 21 days to feel like you’re making progress and get in a groove but much longer to break bad habits.”
One of the best ways to ensure your goal is realistic is use the SMART goal system. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based. Following this system can help formulate your goals to create a healthier plan and ensure that you are pacing yourself correctly to complete your aspirations.
From a psychology standpoint, there are various perspectives on how to make behavioral changes. Extensive research has been done extensively to find the most effective strategies on how to achieve goals. One particular approach is the cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
“When you fail, consider it part of progress toward the goal because you can learn from the failure.”
-Assistant Professor Artime
“The [approach] I find most helpful and best supported by research is the cognitive-behavioral approach,” Assistant Professor of Psychology Tiffany Artime said. “CBT asserts that people’s behavior is a result of a combination of factors including their thoughts/beliefs, situational factors/stressors and emotions. Usually, there is not a single influence but the combination of these factors that contribute both to behavior and behavior change.”
So how do we accomplish our goals? In addition to making a plan and following the steps for change, it is important to reinforce new behaviors to ensure you stick to your goals.
“Try to arrange small rewards for yourself for doing your new behaviors,” Professor of Psychology Michelle Ceynar said. “Take your overall goal and break it down into manageable steps.”
It is also important to note that failure is part of the changing process. Change doesn’t just happen overnight—it is a full process and often times you will stumble trying to complete it.
“Don’t take a lapse as a complete failure and an excuse to completely give up. Nobody is perfect,” Ceynar said.
Artime echoed these words, stating, “when you fail, consider it part of progress toward the goal because you can learn from the failure.” She also suggested to brainstorming “possible barriers to reaching the goal and create a plan for overcoming those before you encounter them.”
Overall, goals are a difficult task to follow. Change is a long process riddled with various roadblocks and walls. Tucker added, “the most successful people write down their goal, journal about it and commit to positive self-talk. [They] see failure as an opportunity to try something in a different way and don’t use failure as a reason to give up. [They] realize that they will fail but get right back on track, prioritize their time, associate with positive people, have fun and celebrate successes.”
Looking back at the start of the year, at the bullet journal you started but never wrote in, the clutter around you that you promised you’d keep clean up this year or even the unused running shoes you bought for your non-existent jogs—don’t forget that it is never too late to start trying again. Goals are meant to be difficult to accomplish, but every small step you take is one step to change. Look back on your resolutions and come up with a new plan to make those changes happen. Find a friend and work with them to achieve your goals, write down your plans, set up rewards and get ready to start the new season with a new version of you.
