ROANOKE, Va. – As mid-January arrives, the excitement of New Year’s resolutions is already fading for many. As the new year settles in, some ambitious goals are being left behind. People often start the year with the best intentions, whether it’s hitting the gym, eating healthier, or saving money. However, by this time, motivation often starts to wane, and old habits creep back in.
Haleigh Ratcliffe shared her experience, saying, “My New Year’s resolution was to go to the gym, and I have not been to the gym yet ha-ha.”
For many, those ambitious goals set on Jan. 1 might already feel out of reach. One individual noted their resolutions were to “don’t eat out a lot and not be late to work.” When asked if they had been late to work this year, the response was simply, “Yes.”
Rebeccah McCully, a licensed professional counselor, explains that many people set goals that are too lofty. “You get back from the holidays, you are in the new year. You put all this pressure on you all at once that it can become too much, and you can also put too much on your plate all at once. So that’s oftentimes what happens and leads to people falling off that trend,” she said.
McCully suggests that instead of setting a resolution that can feel overwhelming, people should set a theme for their year. “But have like a theme, like I want to work on my health and then month by month breaking that down so if your health is you want to start working out so maybe in January your goal is this month I’m going to try and go to the gym once a week and then next month I’m going to try and go to a new workout class I haven’t tried before,” she advised.
While some people have fallen off the resolution track, others are finding ways to stay committed—and they’re seeing others take a backseat. D’Sean Adams, who was in front of Planet Fitness, observed, “Correct the gym was packed from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and now it’s starting to slow down and decrease in the numbers so I definitely a big decrease from January first to January what are we on January 17th it’s a big difference for sure.”
And if you have messed up on your resolutions, it’s not too late to start again. McCully encourages, “You know we can think to ourselves oh I failed, no you haven’t failed you started like that’s not failing, you tried and if you try again that’s still working and investing in yourself.”