342 – 7 Ways To Stick To A New Year’s Resolution

John Over the last two decades, I’ve been on an insatiable quest to learn everything I can about leadership. What makes the best leaders so good? After running companies small and large over the last 20 years, today I speak on stages all across the world to audiences who are interested in that same question. My name is John Laurito. I’m your host, and I invite you to join me on this journey as we explore this very topic and what makes the best leader so good. Welcome to tomorrow’s leader. All right. Tomorrow’s leaders. Welcome to the show.

John Welcome back to the show. You may have taken a little break from podcast listening. I don’t know. It’s holiday time. You everybody kind of enjoys the holidays the way they want to. It is now the week between Christmas and New Year’s as a record. This it is only two or three days away from the end of the year, which is one of my favorite times of the year because this is where all the magic happens. This is where the planning for 2023 and all the things you want to do and next year and how you want to grow personally, professionally, what you want to do business wise, relationship wise, all that kind of stuff. This is such a great time to think about it, but more importantly, put the right plans into place to make it happen. So today I thought it’d be fitting to talk about that. What are the things that go into making this next year super successful? We’re going to cover this in a couple of different episodes today or right now. What I’m going to talk about in this episode is New Year’s Resolutions, Why they Don’t work, and I’m going to give you seven keys to making them work.

John Okay. And here’s some interesting stats. My friend Ray Spinelli, great leader, shared with me some stats as here these with you. 38.5% of people set New Year’s resolutions. I actually thought it would be higher than that, but 38.5% of the population sets New Year’s resolutions. 59% of young adults set a New Year’s resolutions. 48% of those resolutions have to do with exercise. Not surprising. I actually thought that would be higher. 23% of people that put a New Year’s resolution into place quit in the first week. Not only do they not last the year, they don’t last the week. And those of you who go to the gym, you know what I’m talking about, where the parking lot will be packed for the first week or two weeks and then all of a sudden it will be back to normal. They actually have a day course called Quitters Day. It’s true. Which is the second Friday of January. That’s Quitters Day. So let’s not be a quitter. 43% of people will give up entirely by the end of January, and only 9% of people, one out of ten, one out of 11 actually keep their New Year’s resolutions in place for the whole year. So what is it that that one out of 11 does that the others don’t do? Well, let’s talk about it. So I’ve been on both sides of this. I know you have to. So I’ve had years where have stuck to my New Year’s resolutions, Seven years where I have not. And looking back, I’m going to tell you some of the things that absolutely not only work for me, but work for other people I know. And if you think about these seven things, they’re relatively easy to do, but they’re critical.

John They’re critical to increasing the odds that you will stick with your New Year’s resolutions. So I’m going to go through these in no particular order. Okay. Here is number one. Keep it simple. And I find so many times people have and I’ve had years where I had like ten New Year’s resolutions. Can’t do that. One good New Year’s resolution is better than two. One new habit is easier to develop than two or three or four. One bad habit is easier to kick than two or three or four or five. So just keep it as simple as you can. I encourage you think about the one change in your behavior, action or lifestyle or routine that would impact other things as well. What’s the one thing that though, kind of the first domino that fell? If I did this, it would change other parts of my life too, or other parts of my business or areas that I’m trying to grow. So that is number one. Keep it simple. Here’s number two. This is a really important one. Track it. Okay, Track it. Not only number three, write it down. You’ve got to write down your New Year’s resolution. So I’m going a little bit out of order. I know that. Write it down. But number two, track it back. You’ve got to track it. If you track it, you’re likelihood of reaching that goal will go up. So I don’t care what it is, if it’s a diet, if it’s exercise, if it’s finance, if it’s things that you want to do in a relationship, if it’s things you want to do, networking or business or personal development or studying, whatever it is, track the things that you’re committing to do. Write it down somewhere and track it.

John The great thing is our phones we have with us all the time. These things can be great for helping us reach different goals. There’s all kinds of things you can do with your phone and setting alarms or reminders so that you know and are reminded of the key tasks or the commitments that you’ve made to yourself prior to the beginning of the year. So number one, again, keep it simple. Number two, write it down. Number three, track it. Here’s number four. Have. This is really critical to most of us. When we think about a goal, let’s say that we go in and our are changes that we want to take on running and we set a goal that we want to do a marathon some point in 2023. That’s a huge goal, by the way, if you have that all the respect and admiration in the world for you. But a lot of times we think about the glory of the accomplishment itself. We think about crossing that finish line with our arms raised up and our families around us and and just the feeling of having accomplished it, which is what motivates us to want to do that. But we do not prep ourselves for enough is all the pain and the difficulties that we’re going to have along the way of trying to reach that goal. So you’ve got to be thinking about this and not only thinking about it, but planning for it. So if you’re if your New Year’s resolution is you’re trying to stick to a better, more healthy diet, let’s say, and you know that your weakness, which mine is, is pizza. Well, if you really are trying to change your diet and let’s say that you’ve decided, hey, listen, I’m going to I’m going to take pizza out of my diet, whatever the case is.

John Now, that to me. Well, that’s that would be tough. But let’s say that’s your goal. That’s your that’s your lifestyle change you’re going to make for 2023. What you have to have is some sort of a plan that when you are tempted by it because you know you will be, what are you going to do in that situation? So just the smell of pizza alone. If I’m outside and I pass a pizza and I smell it, it makes me want to go in that even if I’m not even hungry. So what are the things that you’re going to do during those toughest times to help overcome the tough times? And maybe it’s say, when I’m surrounded by pizza and I’m tempted to take pizza, I’m I’m going to chug two glasses of water. So I’m a little bit less hungry or a little more full or I’m going to I’ve got a power partner who’s going to be my lifeline. I might call them up and say, Hey, I’m really tempted to have this pizza. You got to talk me off the ledge, whatever. I mean, I’m making it, you know? But you got you got to do something like that’s something that’s going to help you in those toughest moments when you’re working out. The toughest thing is waking up early in the morning. If that’s your goal and you’re working out in the morning when it’s cold and it’s raining out, those are not days you’re going to want to get out of bed, I promise you. You know that. So what’s your plan and how are you going to overcome that if you have a plan there in your toughest times? I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. I’m not even going to say it’s going to be much easier, but it will increase your odds and your likelihood of sticking to it.

John If you have a plan and you’re not caught flat footed when the temptation is there to deviate from your plan. Okay, That’s number four. Number five is what situations will make it actually easier for you to reach your goal. So, for example, if you if you set a goal and your New Year’s resolution is you want to write, you’re working on a book you want to write every single day, four pages. Okay, Well, what situations would create a higher likelihood of you doing that? Maybe you got to set up a writing room in your house. You know, maybe you’ve got to designate a chunk of time during the beginning of the day because, as you know, your day gets out of control sometimes. So you’ve got to designate your time at the beginning of the day and change your schedule around a little bit. Maybe you got to buy a really cool writing journal that is just fun to use and appealing and it just increases your likelihood of wanting to do it. I’m a big believer when people talk about fitness. I don’t think you can overspend on fitness if it if it helps you stick to something. So if that gym that you have and again, this is just my personal belief, if there’s a gym that you really like that’s more expensive and maybe, you know, it could be twice as expensive as that really cheapo gym, if that nicer gym is going to increase your likelihood of wanting to go to the gym. And, you know, once you go to the gym, you’re going to work out and then that’s money well spent, in my opinion. That’s health, right? So the things that that will help make it easier for you to do that key task, create the situation, create the environment, put the odds in your favor.

John Okay. That’s number five. Here’s number six. And by the way, number five, sometimes making it easier is making it fun. If there’s a way to gamify it, if there’s something you can do to kind of create some sort of a, you know, a game out of it. You’ve seen my podcast back probably a hundred episodes ago about the the fun theory. This was Volt. Volkswagen did an experiment where they took a train station in I think it was Sweden, and they turned the the stairs into piano keys, working piano keys. And instead of taking the escalator, people were now taking the stairs because they wanted to have fun and play the piano. As they went up the stairs, they took something where it was normally the path of least resistance was taking taking the escalator, and it totally flip flopped. Instead of 90% of people taking the escalator, 90% took the stairs because they saw it as more fun, even though it was a slightly tougher task. You can do that for yourself with New Year’s resolutions. Okay, Here’s number six. This is absolutely key as well. Involve other people. Tell them what your New Year’s resolution is set up, some sort of and maybe even do it with somebody. If you do it with somebody, you’re likelihood of of doing it and sticking to it goes up significantly. If I’m running, I don’t want to run by myself. If I’m working out, I don’t want to work out by myself. If I’m on a diet, it’s easier to do it with somebody else. If I’m studying for an exam, it’s easier to do with somebody else. All the tough stuff is easier to do if somebody else is doing it with you. Tell your support group, tell your your your significant other.

John Tell your family, Tell your kids, Tell your parents, tell your boss. The more people you tell, the more people that there are around you to support you. And it’s also a little added accountability, right? If I’m telling people I’ve got a little more incentive to stick to what I’m saying, I’m going to do again. Here’s the seventh thing. Don’t forget to have fun and reward yourself at the end. Have something for yourself where if you stick to it for a period of time and again, a lot of this is developing new habits and new routines, in which case at some point it’s going to be truly routine and it’s going to be you’re going to be unconsciously incompetent or I’m going to have to think about it and you’re going to be writing every every day for four pages, whatever it is. You’re going to kind of ingrain this new habit. Now, some people say it’s 21 days, 28 days, 35 days, whatever it is, it’s really I feel it’s different for everybody. Whatever it is, there is some point where if you do it enough, you’re not even going to have to think about it. It is going to become habit. But give yourself a reward for doing it for a period of time. Or maybe if you do finish five chapters of the book, When you finish five chapters of the book, you treat yourself to a nice weekend away or something. When you hit ten chapters, when you had 15 chapters, when you get the book done, have little rewards for yourself. Treat yourself as you would reward somebody else for doing a tough task as being a great leader. We like to do that. Reward yourself. You’re leading yourself, and you are the toughest person to lead.

John You know that. You’ve heard me say that before, so I hope that helps that. Seven Tips to Stick To Your New Year’s Resolutions. Don’t don’t be the 91% of people that don’t. These seven things will help you be the 9% that do. I know you got it in you. I’m here to help you in any way I possibly can. So thanks for tuning in.

John As always likes your subscribe. Go down below, give a five star review and we will see you next time. Take care. Bye. Thanks for joining us on today’s episode of Tomorrow’s Leader, or for suggestions or inquiries about having me at your next event or personal coaching. Reach me at John@johnlaurito.com. Thanks, lead on!