Why New Year Resolutions Don't Work

At the beginning of every year, we follow the same tradition. Resolve to become a better person. And what’s so wrong with that? Nothing. It’s a noble endeavor. The problem is that we only do it once a year where we should be doing it every day.

I mean it, every day. I’m going to refer back to Robert Allen’s book, “The Four Maps of Happy Successful People” which reminds us that our brains love patterns of behavior. Brains like patterns because patterns are easy to execute and don’t require a lot of energy. Patterns make us run on autopilot. Good patterns serve us. When we make a resolution, we are attempting to break a bad pattern by making another at the beginning of the year. Deep down we know it’s going to take more than that, so much more.

What Allen suggests in his book is to constantly remind ourselves of our goals; our 5 year, 1 year, 1-month goals, and one-day goals. And it’s all because our brains are great forgetting machines. Yes, our brains do love patterns, but to install a new positive pattern, we have to continuously remind it. This is where vision boards and affirmations come into play. It’s not that you’re miraculously manifesting your reality when you see a visionboard or read an affirmation, rather it’s a simple and constant reminder to yourself what’s important and why you’re working so hard.

Reference: “The Four Maps of Happy Successful People” by Robert Allen