A new year begins, 2022, and with it we set a long list of goals to achieve, our resolutions for the year, where we reflect on the events of the previous year and motivate ourselves to make the following year much better.

But as the months go by, we find it increasingly difficult to fulfill them and in some cases, we leave them for the following year. We recently started the year 2022, but after a few weeks have passed, we will ask ourselves the following questions: What has become of all those good resolutions? How many of them are still valid? Have we had enough willpower? The most common answer is no, and even more so when your resolutions have to do with health. Because, truth be told, willpower weakens easily, but why is it so hard for us to keep it? If this is your case, here are some ways to keep all your resolutions for 2022!

In this post we explain why and give you some tips to accomplish everything you set out to do this New Year.

Willpower and its reward

Willpower is the intention or desire to do something. Therefore, willpower is our ability to stay focused, to overcome the obstacles in our way to achieve what we want even if it takes time and is not immediately rewarded.

This is very important: the feeling of reward, this end motivates us to repeat actions that have been profitable in the past, within the brain, one of the areas with greater participation is the striatum and the neurotransmitter that activates it is dopamine, this works in different areas of work such as motivation, optimism and reward.

On the other hand, when we use our willpower to do something that requires self-control, such as eating a salad instead of a dessert, or a fruit instead of cookies, the anterior cingulate cortex is activated, which among its functions are the management of rational behaviors such as inhibition, anticipation of rewards, decision making, empathy and emotional management.

These two areas come together when we are planning our New Year's resolutions, however, it is complicated at times for our brain since the reward we mentioned above will be achieved in a longer term and our motivation may be affected, that is where it is more difficult for us not to succumb to temptations and pleasures that do not prevent us from achieving our purposes.

Based on this, another reason may be that you set many goals with long deadlines, in this case, we recommend sitting at the table with your list and make some small modifications: 

- Reflect on your resolutions and eliminate or move those that you feel are not well targeted or outside your current possibilities.

- Break your larger resolutions into smaller, consistent goals, so they don't feel so long and you can visualize your progress more easily.

- Keep track of your resolutions with the help of a planner, a calendar or even a friend or professional who will help you accomplish them.

- Develop or use a method to help you accomplish the steps of your resolutions.

- If your goal is, for example, to lose weight, go to the professionals to make your process more effective.

Stay motivated

Motivation is an internal state that activates, directs and maintains behavior towards certain goals or purposes. and in turn is what keeps us firm to achieve what we propose. in most cases the lack of motivation is what prevents us from achieving our purposes, however, motivation can be trained how? simply by visualizing the rewards of our efforts, far enough away to involve an effort but close enough to see them affordable.

So every time you feel low motivation when you are doing that exercise routine or are taking that weight control treatment to reach your ideal size, visualize yourself and regain the motivation to continue. Your effort will pay off!

One day at a time

Last year taught us the importance of prioritizing our health and balancing our activities and pace of life, so our advice is to walk towards your resolutions steadily but without stressing, one day at a time, as stress decreases the functionality of the rational areas of the brain and can cause us to despair and lose willpower.

So, don't stress if you don't see results in the first few days, good things will come with time if you are consistent and practice what you saw in this blog. Remember that even the biggest marathon starts with a first step.