How To Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Come True

The one step you can take to greatly increase your chance of success

It’s no secret that exercise, healthy eating and weight loss are among the most common resolutions that people around the world will be making once the clock strikes midnight.

If you’ve read our previous articles, you will also know that it’s also no secret that successfully conquering those three things will do wonders for your overall health, self-confidence and sex life.

So, what separates the few who succeed with resolutions from the many who fail?

Two words: implementation intention. You may not have heard of this concept before, but in a few short paragraphs you will understand exactly why it is fundamental to successfully achieving your goals in 2018.

What is an implementation intention?

It’s quite simple really!

An implementation intention is basically a set of plans that you make to help guide you through situations that might steer you away from your goal.

For many of us, it is simply not enough just to want something.

For example, if I pursue a weight loss goal purely motivated by the desire to be slimmer, I am not putting myself in the best position to succeed. If, however, I identify the situations in my life that stand in the way of my goal, then I can apply an implementation intention.

Applying Implementation Intentions To A Weight Loss Goal

Example 1: If my friend wants to drink at lunch, I will not order more than one.

Example 2:  If I am still hungry after dinner, I will take seconds of vegetables first before anything else.

Excessive calorie intake when eating out and over-eating at dinner are two major culinary culprits that can derail someone’s weight loss goals.

By acknowledging that, and planning an appropriate response, you increase your chance of success with your overall goal of weight loss. It will be up to you, the individual, to identify the situations that you should establish an implantation intention for.

Implementation Intentions and The Sexercise Lifestyle

Setting and achieving goals, especially as they relate to your physical health, is an important component of the Sexercise lifestyle.

A healthier diet, better state of physical conditioning and a lower weight are all things that can contribute to a better sex life in the long term.

For many of you, giving implementation intentions a shot will increase your chances of succeeding with your resolutions.

Source

Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-analysis of Effects and Processes. In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 38, pp. 69-119). (Advances in Experimental Social Psychology; Vol. 38). DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1

Brandstätter, V., Lengfelder, A., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2001). Implementation intentions and efficient action initiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(5), 946-960. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.81.5.946

Gollwitzer, P. (2006). Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of Effects and Processes. Advances In Experimental Psychology Vol 38. DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1