After the bingeing of December, just when the roscones de Reyes invade the shop windows of all the bakeries in Spain, how many of us come up and ask for cream filling because tomorrow we start the diet ? Who, surviving an epic hangover after New Year's Eve, has not sworn on the most sacred book, or by his own mother, that the new year will impose the dry law on his life ?
Yes, human beings are very illusive, to the point of even giving a certain penis when we try to convince ourselves that all those good purposes - which, in addition to calorie and alcohol cuts, also usually include other classics such as joining the gym, catching up with the credit card and abandon various vices - they will be fulfilled. Because the reality is that, according to the arduous month of January it is consuming its days, everything is diluted until it remains in that, in mere illusions.
They will say that it is nothing new under the sun. Indeed, Mark Twain has already written it a long, long time ago ... The writer said: " The New Year is a harmless annual institution , of no particular use for anyone, which is used as a scapegoat for drunks and promiscuos, it is when making friendly calls and false resolutions , we wish you enjoy it with the ease that merits the greatness of the occasion. "
This was published on January 1, 1863, so as you can see, we have not changed so much. However, it is curious that, while being quite skeptical about the resolution of good intentions, let's not stop trying.
Recently the University of Scranton, in Pennsylvania, conducted a survey on the matter and concluded that 77% of people used to religiously fulfill their New Year's resolutions during the first week of the month . An interesting fact that tells us that 23% of us already mark ways by not holding even seven days with the commitment.
After six months, only 46% continue with the promise to change and, after two years, only 19% remained blinded in their efforts . The truth is that almost all of us have the same purposes. This was revealed by a study, published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, which found that 55% of these good intentions were related to health (diet, tobacco, sedentary life alcohol) and that 20% focused primarily on the economic , in being able to adjust the belt and pay debts.
But what is clear is that if one has the will to quit alcohol, the "fart" of the year is not caught on the 31st and waits until January 1 to become an abstemious. The same goes for food, if you want to start eating healthy, do not book a specific day to do it and while it arrives you get crammed.
The experts in behavioral science say that this approach is useless , although it is true that sometimes, only sometimes, and for a minority of people, January 1 has meant a before and after in their lives. What made them succeed? What failed those who failed?
1. Something more than willpower
A group of experts from the University of Pennsylvania, led by Professor Angela Duckworth, has produced an interesting report (Beyond Willpower: strategies for reducing failures of self-control) in which we propose different types of self-control strategies , a virtue that it will help us more than willpower .
It is true that they seem the same thing, but exactly they are not. Many of us resort to "I have no willpower" when we are unable to do something. Well, it's no excuse. Beyond the willpower (which we can define as the capacity that drives you to do what you set out, over setbacks or moods) we all have an incredibly valuable tool to control and manage our behavior and thus achieve our goal or objective .
It is called self-control, a skill that allows you to direct your behavior along the desired path . That is, as the experts in this report explain, it is about launching a strategy of self-control that will change the situation around you creating incentives that help you exercise that self-control.
For example, if you plan to spend less time hooked to the screen and social networks this 2020, why don't you start using any of the applications that help you baffle your phone (not issuing notifications for a few hours) or eliminate networks social or video games on your PC or mobile, leaving them only on one device?
In the supermarket you tend to play with your willpower , placing the candies and saturated fats in the strategically most appropriate place to end up in your cart. Well, with super marketing you can't fight, but with your home.
Do not place any food that you know is not good for you in a place that will be easily accessible to any weakness and need for sugar. It's about getting ahead, protecting yourself from temptation, rather than relying on that supposed willpower. Basically you don't change because you want it with all your strength, you change because you plan and execute it.
2. Be specific and realistic about your goal
Lose weight. Yes, but how many kilos? Eating what? Travel where? Do sports, but which one, how much, how, where? Behavioral psychologists recommend narrowing down the list of purposes and not being impossible, since it will be easier to focus on something that is consistent.
If you are a mileurist and cannot afford a sabbatical, it will be very difficult to make that trip around the world that you have proposed, and it does not seem likely that you will lose 30 kilos in the face of summer. You have to concentrate on specific and realistic tasks so as not to lose motivation, because it is true that seeing results guarantees continuity.
Deciding - well as a stop - quitting smoking, drinking and running 10 kilometers every day is too ambitious, since you have to keep in mind that quitting a certain habit leads to an increase in anxiety that must be managed and assimilated .
Anxiety easily moves from one object to another, or from one addictive behavior to another, so it is important to do it slowly, but gradually advancing in the disabling of the behavior, which is how you always get out of habits. Remember: step by step , one by one; Never load yourself with obligations that you will be unable to manage.
3. Reflect on the purpose
Why and why do I want to change? Am I doing it for me, or for someone else? What tools (strengths, values and attitude) do I have to achieve it? It is essential to have the security and confidence that you are prepared to face this challenge , that you have the capacity and that you will be able to do it, however difficult it may be. The important thing is the intention, but also the own conviction. The mind is more powerful than you think (yes, yours too) and if it recognizes that you are trying something with all your strength, it pushes you in that direction.
4. Repeat, repeat, repeat
They say it takes 66 days to create a habit. This is stated in a recent study by Jane Wardle, a professor at University College London and has been published in the European Journal of Social Psychology.
This researcher affirms that, in order to convert a new objective or activity into something automatic, that is to say, in something we do not need to use the willpower or self-control to do it, because we are left alone, we need that period.
During all that time we will repeat it again and again. Since then, according to this expert, the habit is already integrated into your daily life. Objective achieved We can start thinking about a new purpose for 2021.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more- Spain
SociedadEspaña is once again pessimistic and for the first time since 2015, the majority believe that the new year will be worse
SpainThe "lack of employment", the "economic crisis" and 41 "examples of dignity": the King's most social message
Sex Do men also pretend orgasms?