Happy new year! Did you make a New Year’s Resolution? You may have heard that the likelihood of achieving a resolution is pretty low. For people over 50, it may be even harder. According to StatisticBrain.com, only 14% of people over 50 achieve their New Year’s Resolution each year compared to 39% of people in their 20’s. That statistic by itself isn’t enough to go on to figure out why that might be, but it got me thinking.
From my own life and through working with my clients, what tends to sabotage us most when we’re trying to achieve a goal, especially a goal related to our health, is stress. And I think people over 50 have way more responsibilities, more demands on their time, and more stress than people in their 20’s. Do you agree?
Stressors will always exist in our lives and there’s no getting rid of them. But we can learn to better manage how we respond. Here’s a hilarious illustration of how NOT to respond to stress, courtesy of Lloyd Bridges’ character in the movie Airplane:
When we’re under stress, it’s just way too easy to revert to old behaviors and abandon our goals. One great way to counteract the sabotaging effect of stress on your goal is to set up accountability ahead of time by recruiting friends and family to help you get back on track when you get derailed.
If you’re active on social media, here’s an idea to do that right now: Post a status update and announce your goal publicly or to your friends, and in your post, tag friends who will really help hold you accountable.
Going public with your goal is a great way to set up accountability, not just from your friends but from your future self. Your friends can remind you of your goal when they see you slip up. And the future you would be so embarrassed if you fail at your goal publicly so you’ll go to greater lengths to accomplish it. Sharing your goal is also a great test of your commitment to it. If you shy away from sharing it with anyone because you don’t want to look bad if you fail, then that’s a good sign your commitment level isn’t high enough to achieve it.
If you want to take it to the next level and set yourself up for inevitable success to achieve your goals, I highly recommend talking with a coach. I am honored to help women over 50 reawaken their stronger, younger, slimmer, more energetic selves so they can keep up with their friends and family. If that’s your goal, give me a holler and we can chat. I’d love to get to know you. One of my clients went from chasing her granddaughter to racing her!
What’s your biggest goal for 2017 and how do you think stress might hinder you from achieving it? Please share in the comments and I’ll give you a customized quick tip to get you one step closer to your goal. Here’s to you and 2017 being your best year ever!