{"id":955,"date":"2020-01-13T13:03:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-13T13:03:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/?p=955"},"modified":"2022-09-02T15:11:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T15:11:50","slug":"why-we-give-up-on-new-years-resolutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/why-we-give-up-on-new-years-resolutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We Give Up On New Year&#8217;s Resolutions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Watch The Video<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"3 Scientific Reasons Why We Ditch Our New Years Alcohol Resolutions\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/76JHxBDwPG8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Read The Blog<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3 Scientific Reasons Why We Give Up On New Year&#8217;s Resolutions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The 17<sup>th<\/sup> January is the date when most New Year\u2019s resolutions have fizzled out, including our intentions to stay sober for January. If we\u2019re still with it, we feel our enthusiasm waning more each day, and we feel that we\u2019re just tipping into the space where we decide that we\u2019ve done enough, and we\u2019ve proved our point. We start asking ourselves why are we doing this anyway, and thinking that maybe it was just fine when we were drinking, and it\u2019s all too much effort. Sound familiar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Why is this? Why can\u2019t we make our minds up about something, and stick with it? Why do we only aim for one month, and not six, or twelve?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>There are three scientific reasons why our resolve and resolutions are given up on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&nbsp;1. Willpower Doesn\u2019t Work For Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When we decide to stop drinking for any longer than our natural cycle of drinking breaks (which in my case used to be from the night before until wine o\u2019clock the next evening), we need to exercise willpower to enforce our decision. So if we\u2019re wine o\u2019clock drinkers, our willpower is needed the very first evening after we decide to stop drinking. If we\u2019re weekend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/living-with-binge-drinker\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">binge drinkers<\/a>, maybe it\u2019s the first Friday after we make the decision. Initially, it might not feel as though we\u2019re using any willpower, and it may well feel super-easy! This is because our willpower batteries are fully charged and nothing has started depleting them yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Willpower is the method offered by the vast majority of support avenues: AA, general practitioner (physician), and most counsellors as well. You\u2019ll hearthings like, \u2018try to cut down\u2019, or \u2018we have to take it one day at a time\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why the willpower method only works by living in a constant state of one-day-at-a-time, recovery, and constant exhausting self-regulation. To me, that really is the definition of misery. The good news is that we can keep up willpower for short bursts of time. We have evolved to need to use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/the-science-of-alcohol-willpower-stress-and-cravings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">willpower at times of extreme stress<\/a> and danger for survival purposes. Initially, we might not even be aware that we are using willpower because our determination is so strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Like all fight and flight responses, it works in short bursts, but willpower isn\u2019t sustainable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s look at why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/give-up-1024x341.jpeg\" alt=\"Why We Give Up On New Year's Resolutions image\" class=\"wp-image-997\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/give-up-1024x341.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/give-up-300x100.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/give-up-768x256.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/give-up-1080x360.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest way to explain why willpower doesn\u2019t work is to look at where willpower comes from in our brain. It is our conscious, logical, decision making part of our brains where we make the decision to stop drinking and excercise our will to make a change. This part of our brain is around 5-10% of our brain powerhouse, and the other 90-95% is our subconscious brain. In here sits our learned behaviour, society influences, memories, emotional responses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we set out resolutions using willpower we are essentially setting up a fight between the conscious 5-10% of our minds, and the subconscious 90-95%. Over time, it\u2019s like a battery running out, the subconscious mind overrides the conscious decision, and we decide to ditch our resolutions and reach for the bottle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Fading Effect Bias Kicks In<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a strange fact of our biology that as part of our drive to survive, bad memories fade faster than good ones. It\u2019s thought that the reason for this is that if we were traumatised and the bad memories remain our focal point, then we would be less motivated to act to get our needs met, and we wouldn\u2019t survive. We would have less hope, and wouldn\u2019t recover. So we have evolved with fading negative memories, Fading Effect Bias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This explains why over a few weeks we manage to convince ourselves that maybe drinking wasn\u2019t so bad after all, that it\u2019s probably not that harmful, the arguments weren\u2019t really our fault, the hangover hell was actually quite mild. You get the picture? And so we allow the reality to fade from our minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">&nbsp;3. Euphoric Recall Distorts Memories<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Alcohol really is a very cunning frenemy. If impossible methods using willpower, and fading bad memories weren\u2019t enough, we have a third problem to navigate as well: euphoric recall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m going to give you a bit of the science around what happens here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dopamine is a chemical produced by the brain that sends signals to nerve cells called neurons. Dopamine is part of our natural biology and it helps us to survive by giving us good feelings when we get things that we need for our survival like food and sex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We then learn to do more of those things because we need them and our brain signals this through releasing dopamine. Makes sense, right? BUT\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/the-truth-about-dopamine-after-alcohol-addiction-recovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alcohol also triggers our dopamine<\/a> system, and it does it massively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I won\u2019t go into how this causes cravings in this blog, but in terms of our memory what happens is that the positive things we remember when we\u2019ve been drinking are memories that are soaked in dopamine. They are in effect drugged memories, rose tinted, and so when we look back on the parts of a night out we remember, we see them as better than they were because of dopamine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For anyone watching our behaviour as we screamed with laughter at a man walking down the street wearing a hat, and nearly fell off our chair, they would have seen that we were drunk and our behaviour was ridiculous. But in our drugged state dopamine was flooding our system and affecting our memory of the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the three reasons why ultimately our best laid intentions fizzle out. The good news is that there is another method other than willpower that really does work, and that involves changing our mindset around alcohol by working with and not against our natural psychology. Even better news is that with learning and strategies we can navigate our way around both fading effect bias and euphoric recall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once these and other elements are dealt with we can live the lives that we want to live around alcohol \u2013 free, vibrant and happy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you need help to take a break or quit drinking click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/masterclass\/\">HERE<\/a>&nbsp;for details of my free Masterclass on overcoming alcohol addiction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By mid January most New Year\u2019s resolutions have fizzled out, including our intentions to stay sober for January. If we\u2019re still with it, we feel our enthusiasm waning more each day, and we feel that we\u2019re just tipping into the space where we decide that we\u2019ve done enough, and we\u2019ve proved our point. We start asking ourselves why are we doing this anyway, and thinking that maybe it was just fine when we were drinking, and it&#8217;s all too much effort. Sound familiar?<\/p>\n<p>Why is this? Why can\u2019t we make our minds up about something, and stick with it? Why do we only aim for one month, and not six, or twelve?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":997,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3720,"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions\/3720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thealcoholcoach.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}