New Year’s Goals to Increase Success Rate Follow Baby’s Toddler to Quit Procrastination

[ad_1]

Article: Zhang Shumei “Ming Pao”

(Hong Kong News) What new goals do you have for 2023? Experts believe that success does not depend on willpower, but first recognize the source of motivation behind it and formulate baby steps, so as to break the cycle of failure and be a better me together!

The new start effect is easy to delay the start

A year’s plan lies in spring. Many people make various plans at the beginning of the year. This is actually the “fresh start effect” in psychology. Many people are used to starting the new year and the full age (such as 30 years old, 40 years old, etc.) Years), important dates, etc. Set new goals and get rid of old habits.

“The failure of New Year’s goals is also related to this effect.” Psychologist Huang Zhongyuan (Mills) explained that setting goals through the “New Beginning Effect” can easily lead to procrastination.

“There are too many of these symbolic days in a year, and there is one at the beginning of each month, which makes people think that it can be started next time.” For example, if you want to control your diet, some people think that after enjoying the “last big meal” on New Year’s Day, It is not too late to start after the Lunar New Year, but it has been repeatedly delayed.

In his research on procrastination, Canadian psychology professor Timothy Pychyl cited a survey about achieving New Year’s goals. The survey found that only 8% of people succeeded in achieving the goals set at the beginning of the year after one year. Delay the day of starting; he believes that the most important thing is the motivation behind the goal, (ask yourself) why you want to do this, why you want to do it now, is the most important element of success.

Set goals with specific deadlines

As for how to set goals? He cited two English letters: S (Specific, specific) and D (Difficult, difficult).

Goals should be specific enough to clearly set out specific goals.

“‘Weight loss success’ is a poor goal, what counts as ‘success’? Lose pounds? Fat? Lean in all other body parts?” Goals are as specific as possible, such as how much weight to lose, ideally with a time frame , when to start and when to end. The final goal should also have a certain degree of difficulty to increase the sense of success. If the overall goal is too easy, it will also make people procrastinate.

Entering actual combat, the first step is always the hardest. Most people think that the implementation of goals requires incomparable willpower, but Huang Zhongyuan said that willpower is not the most important part.

Motivation matters, starting with small steps

“When you think it is the most important, you will concentrate on training your will. If you can’t do it, you will feel bad about yourself and give up. In fact, more than 90% of people will lose to willpower; therefore, willpower is not the most important thing, but the key to achieving goals Motivation, motivation can help improve willpower.”

He reminded everyone not to overestimate your willpower. The first step should be to set baby steps (baby steps), starting from the smallest steps, “you can start with almost no willpower.”

For example, for a one-year goal, the shorter and smaller the goal for the first one or two months, the better. Take building a running habit as an example. The first step may be to buy equipment, and the second step is to go downstairs and do a lap every week. When you find it easy, but you can do it yourself, you will become more and more enthusiastic, and gradually increase the difficulty.

The greater the success rate of target visualization

“You need to constantly remind yourself what your goal is, because sometimes you will forget and give up halfway.”

He suggested to visualize the goal, for example, if the goal is to lose weight, you can buy a skirt or pants and put it in a place you often see, or take a photo and put it on your desk or wallet, etc., to remind yourself often; you can also tell the goal to people around you, “The more open the goal, the greater the chance of success.” Let more people help monitor and raise points.

Expert guidance to practice health goals is not difficult

Do more exercise, quit kicking your feet, drink more water… These health goals often appear on many people’s health lists for the new year.

Let the physiotherapists and nutritionists guide and help everyone achieve their goals in the new year.

1. Start more exercise with low intensity

Exercise is good for health. At the beginning of the year, many people had ambitions to do exercise, but in the end they ended up with nothing.

“The biggest excuse is that I am very busy and prioritize other things instead of spending time on exercise. In fact, a few minutes to ten minutes is enough to do exercise.” Zeng Zhicong, a practice professor and physical therapist at the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University believes that everyone You need to know your own health risks first, and feel the need to do exercise, so that you will be motivated to put exercise on top of your priority.

“For example, older people are prone to osteoporosis, poor muscle strength, decreased balance, and are prone to fractures after falling, and need to do weight-bearing or exercise to improve balance; I’m out of breath after two flights of stairs, so I need to do aerobic exercise to improve the problem.”

Find out what you need and choose the right exercise. He suggested, start with low intensity, take running as an example, start with jogging, and let the body adapt; the target running time for the first few times can be set shorter, such as running 5 to 10 minutes a day for 1 week, if you find If you can complete it yourself, you can increase the time; if you just complete it, keep it, try to adjust it for a few more weeks; when the running time increases, increase the speed.

“At the beginning, the amount of exercise, frequency, and intensity are all low, but it doesn’t matter, because this is the starting point; look forward, add it slowly, and you will see health effects.”

He reminded everyone that there is no need to be impatient. “It takes 4 to 6 weeks for the health effects of exercise to be felt. If you feel happier, more relaxed, and walk faster after exercise, it can become a continuous incentive.”

2. Correct the sitting posture school alarm clock reminder

Urbanites often play with mobile phones and use computers with bad posture, which can easily lead to increased curvature of the thoracic spine and forward tilt of the head for a long time, resulting in a cold back.

Zeng Zhicong pointed out that maintaining this bad posture for several hours every day will lead to tension in the neck and chest muscles and pressure on the cervical spine; in the long run, it may lead to cervical spondylosis, neck pain, and numbness of the hands.

How to improve? “It is recommended that people who use computers in the office set an alarm clock on their mobile phones, which rings every 1 or 2 hours, reminding themselves to correct their sitting posture, or (timing) to stand up and relax their shoulders.”

3. Tilted feet bring health risks

Crossing your legs is a common bad posture. He said that prolonged sitting with the feet crossed can cause the pelvis to tilt backward and increase the pressure on the intervertebral discs; when the feet are crossed, the pelvis is skewed and the left and right sides are unbalanced, causing uneven force on the muscles around the lumbar spine and causing pain.

“It is not easy to change bad habits after they are formed. The most important thing is to be aware of the risks of kicking your feet. Whenever you are about to kick your feet, you will automatically put down one foot when you think of the problems it brings.”

4. Drink plenty of water and add mint to increase your will

Many people don’t touch a drop of water when they are busy. Nutritionist Pan Zhuolin pointed out that water can replenish the water lost by the body due to metabolism and sweating, and it is very important for maintaining body temperature, transporting nutrients, and removing body waste.

“We have been taught to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day since we were young, but this is just a general guideline. The actual amount of water required by each person is different, and weight, exercise, and temperature will all have an impact.”

“Based on body weight (kg) x 30 ml, calculate the daily water requirement for healthy adults.

Taking an adult weighing 50 kg as an example, they need 1.5 liters of water per day. If calculated as 240 ml per cup, they need at least 6.25 cups of water, or liquid food such as soup and porridge.

After calculating the amount of water you need, you can buy a large water bottle of about 1 liter to ensure that you can drink 2 bottles a day. “

“Some people will buy a water bottle with a drinking straw, and drink from the bottle without having to focus on drinking the water.”

She said that some people will also download a mobile phone application that reminds people to drink water. “If you feel that the water has no taste, you can add mint or fruit slices such as lime to increase your willingness to drink water.”

5. Do not stay up late and avoid using mobile phones before going to bed

In order to fight for me time, even if they go to bed early, many people still play with their mobile phones until the early hours of the morning before falling asleep, which affects the spirit of the next day.

If you want to get rid of the bad habit of staying up late, Pan Zhuolin suggested that you set a schedule for work and rest, such as going to bed at 11 pm and going to bed before 12 pm; do some quiet activities 30 minutes before going to bed, such as meditation, reading, and avoid contact with the screen.

“You can set your mobile phone to ‘sleep mode’ half an hour before going to bed, so that the reminder message will no longer pop up.”

2 hours before going to bed, you can eat some foods that help you fall asleep and improve sleep quality, such as bananas rich in magnesium and potassium, which can help relax muscles, and contain tryptophan, which can produce sleep-promoting melatonin; while milk, cheese, etc. Dairy products also contain tryptophan and protein, which can help secrete melatonin and improve sleep quality.

[ad_2]

Source link