Should You Set A New Year's Resolution?

Another year has come and gone and it's time to start anew. So what do we do? We set a New Year's resolution, of course! 

Well, you might want to reconsider as there are some startling statistics about them. Here's the overview:

• 38.5% of US adults set New Year’s resolutions every year.

• 59% of young adults (18-34) have New Year’s resolutions, which makes it the largest demographic that sets these goals.

• 48% want to exercise more, making it the most popular New Year’s resolution. The top 3 are all health-related.

• 23% quit in the first week, and only 36% make it past the first month.

• 9% successfully keep their New Year’s resolutions.

 I think we can do better and here's how. 

How to start fresh in the new year

The first step, DON'T make a New Year’s resolution this year. Set goals instead and start slow. One of the problems with setting a New Year's resolution is that most people are asking too much of themselves and an unrealistic expectation can never be met.

Make your goals small and realistic. 

If you want to lose 50 pounds you can do it, but you might want to set the bar a little lower and have several smaller goals that add up to 50 pounds.

The initial goal could be to lose 10 pounds and once you've met that small goal you will have subconsciously given yourself the satisfaction of having met a goal, which will encourage you to strive for the next goal.

If you want to workout more, don't tell yourself you're going to the gym 3-5 days a week when you've never done that before in your life. Start small with going on a walk around the neighborhood maybe twice a week and move up from there. 

At first, it may seem that you’re not making any progress and even wonder if walking around the neighborhood is benefitting you at all. Trust that it is. You are building up the habit in the beginning more than anything and as you stick with it, it becomes easier and easier to do. Thus, building confidence and motivation to add higher intensity or frequency. 

The point is, by approaching your goals slowly you are building a strong foundation and more sustainable lifestyle changes. That is where the biggest difference is made, in small efforts made consistently. 

On a side note, if you're wanting to start running and have never been a runner before you may want to start with lower impact exercises and get the kinks worked out ( with chiropractic care, of course ) before banging your joints around.

Another great way to start out the year is with a general detox program 

There are a ton of them out there and a lot of them are great. Whole 30 is a popular dietary program that can really help kick start new habit forming. I also like using the anti-inflammatory diet with a 2 week detox program. 

The supplements in the program encourage the elimination of toxins better than diet alone. When the supplemental program is complete the anti inflammatory diet is continued.

After these programs come to their end we typically try to add back in one food every three days to see if there are any reactions that a person might not have known they had.

Since our environment is incredibly toxic and we are continually exposed to a myriad of chemicals on a daily basis I highly suggest you consider doing a week long detox or use supplements that encourage detoxification one week out of every month.

If doing a detox interests you but you’d like some guidance and support through it, feel free to schedule an appointment with us. I’d be happy to help! 

Main takeaway

Nobody expects you to be perfect and sometimes New Year’s resolutions can pressure you to feel like you have to be. If you want to do something you can do it. The main factor is to not give up.

There may be a goal you've had for years, but haven't been able to achieve. That's okay. Sometimes it takes us a while, maybe even years, to win the mental game that is crucial to make those dreams a reality. Just don't give up! 

For extra support in achieving your goals, I would encourage you to refer to our latest blog post, How To Support Seasonal Affective Disorder With Color Therapy.