Copyright © 2010 Jamie Lyons



With New Year's resolutions pledged more than three weeks ago, it would be interesting to know exactly how many have already been abandoned. Admittedly this year we've had the snow and ice to blame for our failure to comply with some freshly decided self-promises: it's hard to commit to a new fitness regime when the pavements are more slippery than a proverbial fish and the gym is unreachable as the car is under half a tonne of snow. Less convincing are arguments like: 'cigarettes keep me warm', or even, 'chocolate makes me feel warm inside'! Maybe, just maybe, there's more to such excuses for reverting to old habits than mere weakness of will.



The first stop in this investigation into the lack of motivation we demonstrate towards New Year's resolutions is a look at the motivation behind the resolutions themselves. They are a strange phenomenon, but understandable when contextualised. It is not just that we see the beginning of a new year as an easy to identify marker for the beginning of a lifestyle change, but more so that the festive period leading up to the New Year can involve excesses of bad habits or unhealthy living practice. The resolutions serve as a form of penance for the gluttony committed in the preceding couple of weeks and also a pre-emptive excuse for any over-indulgence engaged in over Christmas.



Now, given that the reason why we decide to undertake a specific lifestyle change promise is not entirely motivated by the desire to actually change, but partially to make up for excesses over a short period of time it is inevitable that the majority of us will fail. We do not actively want to stop smoking, go to the gym more, or eat a more healthy diet we just wanted an excuse to contravene these ideals over the festive period! Unfortunately us mere humans are very much creatures of habit. We enter routines and regularly perform them on what is essentially subconscious auto-pilot. Without a strong desire to break this subconscious routine, failure to adhere to a resolution is unavoidable, as the subconscious is ingrained whilst the conscious will to act in opposition is transitory and takes a concerted effort to enforce.



Essentially, trying to consciously break a habit is like swimming against the tide. That is why even aside from New Year's resolutions, diets don't generally work for weight loss and stopping smoking off your own back is notoriously hard going.



Hypnotherapy could well be the extra little push that turns those elusive resolutions into reality. A hypnotherapist relays a suggestion directly to the subconscious, removing the chosen aspect of your daily routine from the auto-pilot template and actually giving you a fighting chance of using that gym membership or not resorting to fishing the symbolically discarded cigarettes from New Year's Eve out of the bin.

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By Jamie Lyons on behalf of Calm Minds, Hypnotherapy Stockport.