Everyone wants to make changes. New Year’s Eve fast approaches, and with it, lots of resolving to make changes. Statistically, we hear that most resolutions are cast aside within days. What’s going on?

I find that people make three major mistakes when they prepare for change. See if one, or more of these, sounds familiar to you.

1. You want change – instantly! Your short attention span means that investing in a process that takes time and sustained effort seems “stupid” or “pointless.” You are unwilling to accept that change takes time. You’ve heard stories about people having some sort of lightbulb moment and then they assert that “everything changed.” Yeah, well, that was the summary. Even if someone can indeed name their “pivot point” or the “a-ha!” moment when they realized change was necessary, or when they knew they’d “hit bottom,” or whatever term they’re using for realizing they need to make a change rather than ride along passively through life, letting change happen to them by default, it’s only the beginning. Actual change simply takes time, and as we all know, our culture is not big on the taking-a-long-time “thing.” We want change, now. Well, I have run many marathons and I never did figure out how to finish any of them in more than one step at a time. There did not seem to be an alternative route to getting the job done.

1. You telescope – and then give up without trying. The flip side to the craving for instant change is a curious phenomenon that I call “telescoping.” You look ahead to a distant goal and see the end performance up close – as if it must happen imminently. Since you’re clearly unprepared to do what’s required at the end (yet), you give up on it. Well, the goal is distant for a reason. The process of getting closer to the goal prepares you for it. This is why freshmen write 2000 word papers and doctoral students write 300+ page dissertations, and it’s why little kids have training wheels and their parents have more gears than they have fingers to count them.

1. You don’t understand that “change” means “change.” You don’t realize that making changes will change you in ways you cannot know for certain until you look back, later. For example, if someone decides to eat more healthily, s/he is simply not able to really understand the many subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which this decision will create change. The numbers on the scale are, frankly, the least of it. Addicted to salty snack foods (salt does indeed hit the brain’s dopamine/reward system quite effectively!) and packaged sweet baked goods, the new eating habit feels like punishment. At first, they resent the terrible restrictions placed on them (by choice) as deeply as a preschooler denied dessert over unfinished green beans. Every day, of every future year, will be, it seems, a torturous process in which they will be denied the cheesy poofs and sugar bombs they crave. They are unaware that eating better foods will change THEM, not just their weight. They cannot see that the person they will be in three months will not be the same person bitterly having almonds for a snack instead of a bag of salty, deep-fried crunchy things. In 3 or 6 months, they will sleep better. They will think more clearly because, finally getting the nutrients it craves, their brain can build new connections, repair old ones, and improve its efficiency. They will have more energy, and their taste buds will probably have recovered so that more nuances besides “salty” and “sweet” are available…but in their imagination, their future self somehow merely “looks better” but has undergone no interior change whatsoever. Their beautiful shell will be angrily chomping on a salad but look fabulous doing so.

Of course, some people do all of the above: they want change to be instant and are utterly terrified at what that change means as if they have to do it all now. They want to “be different,” on the one hand, right now, and seem unable to grasp that making changes will change them.

When you consider making a change, do you fear the initial process? The “sacrifice?” Do you worry the effort won’t be worth it, or do you telescope and, unprepared for the advanced part of the process, immediately discount your capacity to meet the challenge?

Whatever your change-challenge might be, it’s helpful to read the stories of people who made tremendous changes, and talk to people whose achievements you admire. Find out about the doubts, first steps, challenges, etc. See if they, too, wondered about being able to reach their goals, or felt awkward taking the steps towards a goal that seemed so far away and unachievable.

What are you going to change?

Dr. Lori Puterbaugh

© 2015

Posts are for information and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed to be therapeutic advice. If you are in need of mental health assistance, please contact a licensed professional in your area.