55% of all New Year’s Resolutions are health related, weight loss figuring prominently among them, and getting more exercise.
Only about 6% of people stick with them.
James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits: Any Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones” tells CBS News is because most people are focusing on the wrong thing when setting resolutions, and that has failure built right in.
“We think the outcome is what needs to change, but actually it’s one of the habits or the system, the process behind the outcome,” he suggests. He uses as an example resolving to keep a room clean, perhaps the kitchen, which you might race to clean. “You have a clean room for now. But if you don’t change the sloppy, messy, pack rat habits that led to a dirty room in the first place then you end up in the same place.”
It’s about habits, he says, and if you want to lose weight, you need to learn the habits of people who weigh less. “A lot of people may say they want to lose 40 pounds, but the question to ask is who the type of person that could lose weight is? Maybe it’s the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts.”
He says rather than focus on the goal, think of becoming the person who lives the goal.