The start of the new year is often the time for reviewing past achievements and failures, and setting new goals. With an estimated 66% of the population making resolutions for 2024, it is likely that some of your existing and potential clients will be thinking about their health. You too can kickstart your 2024 and avoid the January slump by helping these clients achieve their health goals.
New Year's Resolutions
The most common resolution for 2024 across the UK is predicted to be fitness based, with weight loss and improved diet goals extremely common too. Over half of people believe physical health and mental health are of equal importance, and activities that help you achieve one are often beneficial for the other. Health goals are often set in January, as the temporal landmark of the new year provides us with the “fresh start” effect. It is much easier to adopt new habits and make life changes at natural transition points in life, and there is no better natural transition than the beginning of a new year.
However, despite the optimism of a fresh start, an estimated 1 in 4 resolutions are given up by January 10th, and 80% of resolutions are likely to be abandoned by February. There are various reasons why goals that seem so achievable at the beginning of the year are given up so soon.
1. Resolutions Aren't Specific Enough
Resolutions that are not specific enough are extremely unlikely to be achieved. Often, people set goals to “lose weight” or “eat healthier”, without any indication of what it means to them to achieve this. When setting any goal in the new year, it is important to know exactly where your starting point is, how you wish to progress, and how you will know you are on track for success. Having specific goals and a timeline to stick to that will get you there is key in making the process achievable.
For example, if clients are having a course of SkinBase Collagen Lift, and want to eat healthier to maximise their results, they should define exactly what it means to them to eat healthier. What is their current diet? What can stay? What needs to be swapped out? Creating a meal plan packed full of nutritious food to go with their CL treatment plan is a great way for clients to understand what they need to do to achieve their goals. To stay accountable, they could use an app to track their meals, or even check in with you during their treatments. It has been proven that goals are more likely to be achieved when shared with someone you respect.
2. Resolutions Aren't Framed Positively
When making goals specific, it is important to consider the language that is being used too. Language can affect the actions you take, your self perception, and the motivation you feel to achieve your goals. Negatively framed resolutions are unlikely to be achieved, regardless of how specific they are. “Eat less junk food in my evening meals” is likely to conjure up thoughts of junk food whenever the resolution is considered. On the other hand, “eat more greens with my evening meals” reinforces the positive behaviour that you do want to achieve, bringing it to the front of your mind and increasing the chances of success.
When clients have a consultation for a SkinBase treatment, it is important to understand the goals they wish to achieve during the course. However, it can also be important for you to guide them to positively framed thinking. Clients who want to “stop looking old”, “minimise jowls” or “banish fine lines and wrinkles” actually want to achieve a youthful glow, with lifted, smoother skin, and ultimately want to change on the inside, and find the confidence to feel happy in their own skin. Tracking goal performance can be done literally when it comes to courses of treatments - with before and after images along the way. Don’t forget to track the clients progress, so they can see how they have achieved smooth, sculpted and plumped skin. Clients see their faces everyday, and can find it difficult to notice the subtlety of changes over time and remember where they began. Seeing the results side by side with their before image can help to highlight the progress that has been made.
3. You Didn't Need a Fresh Start
Fresh starts are wonderful for goal setting when they follow a period of disappointment or failure. However, if you have been successfully working towards your goals for some time, and have a record of past performances, it can be detrimental to see the new year as a reset, and can negatively affect future performance.
If you have clients already achieving their health goals, for example those who have meticulously followed a skincare routine or had a previous course of treatment, it is important to see relevant future goals as extensions of the previous successes. Those who see further action as a complete reset are likely to experience a slump, with a decline in achievements.
4. You Were Not Ready to Make the Change
In order to achieve a new goal, it is important to remember what you are actually doing is changing an existing behaviour. To change a behaviour requires a great deal of discomfort, and lasting change requires the state of discomfort to be maintained over a period of time. Therefore, you have to decide the goal behaviour is important enough to work towards every day. If you are not invested in the change, or are not ready for what it takes to get there, you will not be disciplined enough to change.
Clients who want to maximise their treatment results must be ready and prepared to make the necessary changes, and invest the time and efforts required to do so. Adapting their lifestyles to fit in healthy habits, such as regular exercise, a nutritious diet and a consistent skincare routine may require a level of discomfort as the changes are taking place, but will be worth it for the end result.
Achieving Resolutions
Statistics suggest that although women are more likely to make resolutions in the new year, and have a stronger desire to better themselves, men are actually more likely to stick to their resolutions. This is particularly true as each group grows older.
With an estimated ⅓ of the female population currently perimenopausal or menopausal, it is no surprise that men are better equipped to stick to their resolutions. Menopause can wreak havoc on every aspect of life, impacting significantly on the body and the mind for lots of women. Therefore, those facing menopause symptoms may find it even more difficult than most to keep their resolutions.
Unfortunately, those who find it hardest to maintain their resolutions are often those who could benefit the most. The consequences of women abandoning their health goals are considerable due to the negative impact that menopause has, both physically and mentally.