By Bianca Barratt
It’s the same every year – “this is the year I’m going to leave on time every night,” or “this is the year I’m going to read a new book every week,” we tell ourselves every January the first, filled with optimism that the new year will be the one where everything changes. Sometimes we’re right – especially if we’ve mentally prepared ourselves for the goals we’ve set – but, more often than not, life gets in the way.
It’s common knowledge that one of the reasons most resolutions die a pitiful death the second week in January is that we usually fall into the trap of setting goals that are too big. A little like “statistical numbing” –the idea that humans have a greater emotional response to one, rather than wide-spread, tragedy – we find it difficult to wholly get on board with goals that will take a long time to reach.