Exercise more. Sleep more. Start a meditation practice. Get a handle on monthly finances and budgets. Hit all quarterly sales goals at work. The list of New Year’s resolutions is long, and by about mid-March, the list has evaporated into thin air.
Resolving to make positive life changes is a wonderful idea and is vital to personal and collective evolution. Why then, even when some real progress is made, are resolutions so hard to keep? Keeping a resolution requires more than writing it down or stating it aloud. The answer lies in understanding the brain.
It’s common knowledge in the world of neuroscience that, on average, the human brain can consciously process around 40 pieces of information per second. An example of a conscious piece of information is a New Year’s resolution. Sounds pretty quick, right? Not compared to the 11 million pieces of information the subconscious processes in the same amount of time. This massive and powerful subconscious bucket contains all the obstacles, distractions, habits, and reasons why the best intentions get overruled. Understanding how the brain is wired is powerful knowledge to support setting and meeting goals.
To get the subconscious on board with a conscious goal, create clear and concise messages. Think of how vague and disjointed dreams can be. This is how the subconscious works. It’s unorganized at best and needs clear and positively framed direction. An example of a clear, concise, and positive goal is, “Every Monday and Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. attend a cross-training class.” A vague sure-to-fail goal is “exercise several days a week” or “stop avoiding good health.” A clear and concise goal at work is, “Find and contact 10 new leads every Wednesday.” A vague work goal is “make President’s Club for sales this year” or “stop being so distracted.”
Once clear and positively framed goals are established, add them as calendar tasks or appointments. If a goal is around exercise, schedule the next six months of trainer appointments so nothing else gets in the way. Better yet, prepay so there is a financial commitment too. If the goals are around work, schedule them into a daily agenda. If a task to meet a goal is particularly challenging, do it first thing in the morning every day to get it done. Otherwise, everything else will get in the way. Over time, this will create a positive habit in the brain, and the task will get easier and more routine.
Lastly, know that the brilliant and complex human brain will always take detours. Distraction will always be present in this fast-paced, highly technical world. When the inevitable happens and something gets in the way, or there is simple resistance to doing certain tasks, pause, breathe, and remember the bigger picture of how good it will feel when a few potentially life-changing goals are met.
