A new year is upon us again and certainly 2021 has not passed us by without a trace – it has brought us many ups & downs that we will not forget. That’s exactly why many people take the turn of the year as an opportunity to close the books and start the coming year with a new drive. Even if 2022 cannot magically bring a new beginning for everything that has happened so far, it is still worthwhile to take advantage of the fresh air of new year’s beginning and to start with courage, new ideas and new goals.

Among the classics of resolutions are things like quitting smoking, giving up alcohol or sugar, doing more sports or losing weight. Of course, these are certainly not bad goals and worth a try. But despite the good intentions, many fail every year to achieve their own resolutions – How can that be? With this blog post, we want to give you a little advice on how to make your resolutions work.

FIRST OF ALL, WHY DO SO MANY GOOD RESOLUTIONS QUICKLY FALL INTO OBLIVION?

Well, we think it’s the bad timing! New goals and clear aspirations are both commendable and important for our personal development, but the turn of the year comes with a lot of pressure. Everyone we meet talks about “New Year – New Me” and so we too think we should make big resolutions. Usually, the list then becomes longer than actually planned and you think of more and more potentials for self-optimization. But the new resolutions lack an intrinsic will. By this we don’t mean that you don’t honestly want to achieve your goals or that you don’t really want to get rid of a bad habit. Rather, we are saying that the turn of the year is being pushed forward to deal with the things you want to change. However, if there was really a strong will to change these things, the decision would be made regardless of a certain date. So maybe you lack the necessary commitment to implement all your goals immediately in January. This usually leads to the fact that all resolutions are forgotten in spring at the latest.

OKAY, NOW WE KNOW WHY WE MIGHT FAIL, BUT WHAT IS THE CONSEQUENCE?

Well, for one thing, it helps to ask yourself in advance: what am i taking away from last year? What have I learned? What touched me? What changed me? What do I want to do differently in 2022? This way you can link your goals to something you experienced and make them clearer, more appropriate, more personal and easier for you to achieve.

1. Also, self-acceptance is key. If you approach yourself with goodwill and look at what you’ve already accomplished, you’ll be more motivated to look at the goals ahead of you. It’s okay not to accomplish it all at once. To stay motivated, you can also keep a small diary, recording your daily achievements.

2. Dividing your goal into several small subgoals is also helpful, it makes the mountain you have to overcome appear less intimidating. Maybe you want to try getting up at the first alarm instead of always getting up at 5:00 am. Or if your goal is to get more movement in your daily life, you don’t have to run to the gym every day. Sometimes a short walk in the evening is enough to integrate a small sports unit into your daily routine.

3. Our brain can’ t take no for an answer – a classic example of this is: Don’t think of a pink elephant. What are you thinking about now? Exactly. The pink elephant. So, try not to frame your goals as prohibitions or refrains. Instead, turn the tables. You want to give up sugar, then rephrase your resolution as “I want to cook all my own meals with healthy foods.”

As we said, we believe in always setting new goals and challenges, but maybe with a little less pressure and a little more realism, we’ll achieve twice as many of them. And remember, the year has 12 months, so there’s plenty of time to implement all your resolutions. But maybe not in the first month of the year.

Finally, we have a little surprise for you! Today we start our Winter Sale – from 07 to 17 January there will be up to -50% off selected products, including many sunglasses, watches and backpacks. In case you didn’t find what you were looking for under the Christmas tree, now is your time to treat yourself!