Develope Your Intuition and Live Your Authentic Life

Learn How to Create Lasting Change by Breaking Down New Year’s Resolutions into Small Habits That You Can Achieve David Singer shares his insights on why people often fall short of their new years resolutions and how they can shift their approach to create the changes they seek. He also gives listeners a deep dive into the first two rules from his book, Six Simple Rules for a Better Life which are Be Happy and Be Nice. If you are like the average person, as 2012 wound down you began thinking about ways that you wanted 2013 to be different. Even if you did not label them as new years resolutions, chances are you thought of things like getting fit, eating healthier, quitting smoking, or watching less TV. What ever it was that you decided, it is also likely that you ran through a laundry list of things that you need to do to achieve your goal. Using eating healthier as an example, you tell yourself, “no more fried food, no more soda, no late night snacking, no chips, no cookies...only fruits, veggies and fish from here on out...” But after a couple of weeks, you are back to your old eating habits, indulging in forbidden foods and feeling bad about yourself for not sticking to your commitment. Are you a weak person? No, it is simply because attempting to make so many sweeping changes overloads your willpower and you end up back where you started. You see, we all have a limited amount of will power. It’s true. Neuroscience shows that the prefrontal cortex of the brain is responsible for willpower, focus, problem-solving and cognitive thought. When this part of the brain is overused it becomes fatigued and will power decreases exponentially. Think of it like muscle. If you went for a 7 mile jog, for example, then did three sets of squats with weights and then jumped rope, you would feel the strength in your legs drain away as fatigue set in. The same is true with the prefrontal cortex. So how does someone achieve a goal such as “eating healthier?” According to David Singer it is by breaking the goal into small chunks and focusing on only one behavior change at a time for a total of 21 days. Studies show that it takes 21 days to form a new habit and once a behavior is a habit it no longer requires will power. So instead of the general goal of eating healthier, commit to replacing your afternoon chocolate bar with a banana. Do this consistently for 21 days then pick another small change to make, such as replacing soda with water. The key is to really break the goal down into behaviors that you feel confident you can stick to. For example, if you currently drink five cans of soda a day and cutting all five out at once seems too overwhelming, opt to cut out one instead. Do this for 21 days then reduce your daily intake by one more for 21 days and so on. In just three and a half months, you will be soda-free! In terms of getting fit, if you currently are not exercising at all, committing to waking for 20 minutes three days week might be too much to take on. Instead, commit to walking for five minutes a day, three times a week. Do this consistently for three weeks (21 days) and then commit to walking six minutes a day, three times a week. Do this consistently for another three weeks and then go up to seven minutes and so on. While it may seem like at this rate you will never achieve your goal, in reality, by the end of the year you will be up to walking 20 minutes three days a week! Set yourself up for success! By breaking down each new years resolution into small chunks that you feel you can stick to for 21 days, your chances of succeeding increase incrementally. Interested in reading more? Check out these blogs. The science of new year’s resolutions: Why 88% fail and how to make them work How Your Willpower Is Depleted