New Beginnings Vs. The Habits of the Past

So, How Are The New Year Resolutions Going?

Every new plan, every intention that things will be different in the future, has to confront the pull of the habits of the past, or the intention is doomed to fail. The habits of the past are what kills countless plans and sincere resolutions. Given habits are automatic and subconscious, most of us do not take into account when we make new resolutions or plans, just how strong that pull is. 

Habits are things that are hard not to do, and are things we do without thinking.

The habits we have developed that let us operate on automatic pilot are great to make getting through the tasks and responsibilities of each day easier and less stressful. Can you imagine how crazy-making it would be to have to think about everything we do every time, all the time? It would be just too inefficient, not to mention exhausting. Automatic behaviors are life savers most of the time. They allow us to react spontaneously with the right learned response for every situation – that's what has us be seen as professionals.

In the performing arts practicing is a part of being a professional. It is what all professionals do – all the time. As some say, practice so you will always remember. Or, as the masters say, practice so you will never forget.

Good News For The Status Quo

What we usually overlook when creating new resolutions and plans is just how deeply embedded old habits are, and the automatic pull they have on almost all of our thoughts and actions. It sounds disrespectful at some level to say this, but most of us, most of the time, are going about our day-to-day lives preprogrammed by the habits of the past. Our routines rule us. That is good news for maintaing the status quo, not so good news for those New Years Resolutions, or new plans.

New Resolutions Require New Practices

All habits were once new routines. Routines which we practiced over and over again till they became automatic and subconscious. When did you last think about all the actions you take in driving your car? It is hard to remember the learning process. A process that was, for most of us, full of frustration and mistakes, even big failures. If you can remember, the same is true for every new skill we have mastered.

Yet somehow we seem to expect that keeping new resolutions, and realizing new plans, can somehow defy the rules of this new skill learning process.

Some must do's to increase success in keeping resolutions – establish new habits:

1. Be specific about what you want to accomplish – what exactly is the intended outcome you have resolved to produce?
2. Be specific about by when you want that outcome to be achieved? This, and #1, is a bold declaration with no fuzziness! 
3. Say what actions would someone need to take to be successful in keeping this resolution, if it was theirs
4. Establish a new routine: take the new actions regularly, say every day, or multiple times a day, till the new action(s) is automatic. [Don't expect a new habit to form in less than say two months of regular repetitions]
5. Be persistent, and patient, new habits are not formed over night [#4]. Giving up too soon is the primary cause of new resolutions failing. We have instant gratification as a learned habit.
6. Be compassionate with lapses and failures. There will be failures, that is part of the new learning process – remember? Recommit, do the practice, keep going.
7. Keep remembering why you wanted to create new habits in the first place. That will keep you going when you become impatient, or when practicing the new behaviors is frustrating and exhausting. 
8. Get support, a friend, a cheerleader, a coach, someone to encourage you, celebrate your successes, and help you through the forgetting and failing moments.