[originaltext] Hello, everyone. I’m Guy Winch. Today we’ll talk about New Ye

Hello, everyone. I’m Guy Winch. Today we’ll talk about New Year’s resolutions. Every new year we make a list of resolutions, hoping to better ourselves and our lives, only to abandon our efforts entirely by Feb. 1 (if not by Jan. 2). [16]Such failures are not mere disappointments, as they can create emotional wounds that impact our psychological well-being. Indeed, too often the annual ritual that is meant to improve our lives leaves us concluding we’re lazy, weak, or incapable of change and feeling even worse about ourselves than before we started.
    But are we lazy, weak, and incapable of change, or are we judging ourselves unfairly? Rather, it’s because we neglect to think through how we plan to achieve our goals. Indeed, we tend to make three very basic but crucial errors before we even start.
    [17]The good news is that addressing these mistakes can radically increase our possibility of sticking to our resolutions and finding success. Some or even all of them will be familiar to you, but don’t beat yourself up about past mistakes. As I said, these are very common errors. Instead, invest your energies in fixing them this year.
    The first mistake is that many of us compose a list of New Year’s resolutions that is longer than our child’s list to Santa. New Year’s resolutions are not bucket lists, they’re statements of short-term intentions. Therefore, choose one or two items at most, and focus on completing those.
The second mistake is that our goals are too vague to be measured in some way. For example, a goal such as "Try harder at work" sounds good but provides no specific benchmarks by which we can measure our progress. To avoid this error, make vague goals more specific: "Complete all assignments on time, "or "Ask for more responsibilities."
    Apart from the above mistakes, [18]the most common one we make is to state our resolution but put no thought into how we will attain it. Then Jan. 1 rolls around and we have no idea where or how to start. [18]Therefore, invest time and thought into how best you can reach your goal. Break it down into sub-goals, be specific about what you will need to do to reach each one, and figure out how you to deal with setbacks and distractions. This is especially important for health and fitness goals as setbacks and distractions will happen.
    Good luck and Happy New Year!
16. What do we learn about failing to stick to our New Year’s resolutions?
17. Why should we address the mistakes before making New Year’s resolutions?
18. What is the most common mistake that we make about New Year’s resolutions?