2024-01-02 09:32:35
It is difficult to achieve all the goals we set for ourselves for the year that has just begun, from improving physical and mental health, to other material and work objectives. Psychologists offer us a new option, anti-purposes, a different psychological strategy.
EFE/ Mauricio Dueñas Castañeda
“Antipurposes are nothing more than purposes that a person makes for himself with license to fail to fulfill them. The anti-purpose could be considered as the purpose of stopping doing something that we have been doing all our lives, without knowing why or for what purpose, but that is not rewarding for us,” he explains. Enric Soler Labajos, relational psychologist and tutor of the Psychology degree at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC).
Therefore, an anti-purpose is a goal that can be failed and aims to abandon a specific habit or routine: instead of setting out to lose weight, the anti-purpose could be “not to obsess over diet.”
“Purpose is something very personal, and there should be as many purposes as there are human beings, because each person is different, but we often set inappropriate purposes. The more generic our purpose is, the more likely it is to fail,” points out the psychologist.
If we opt for a different strategy, for anti-purposes, we will avoid “a purpose ending up becoming nonsense,” he adds.
Delving into the anti-purposes
According to experts, as a general rule, it is usually easier to defenestrate and free yourself from already known routines than to acquire new ones. Mainly, because without the assumption of a new challenge or goal that a person has never faced, it is impossible to know the effort necessary to achieve it.
“And we also don’t know what emotional cost it will take if we fail to meet expectations,” comments this specialist.
For example, instead of setting a goal to lose weight, an anti-goal might be “not to obsess over diet” or “not to let physical appearance dictate my happiness.”
It is a way of approaching goals from a paradoxically inverse perspective, and identifying unwanted behaviors instead of setting specific goals.
EFE
Strategy to fulfill anti-purposes
When it comes to achieving the set goals, it is essential that the objectives are well defined, realistic and measurable.
“If these three characteristics are not met in the objective, you can assume that what you have guaranteed is nonsense,” warns the UOC expert.
But you also have to set a strategy and be aware that it requires an act of will and effort.
“As it is a new objective, a change in behavior is necessary, so we must anticipate how our daily life will be modified, and if this abandonment or change of habits is really possible and compatible with our daily life,” says the psychologist. .
Different psychological tools must be put into action, such as asking a series of questions linked to the moment in life, motivation and purpose.
“The answers we give ourselves will provide us with clues about whether the anti-purpose in question is appropriate or not. For example, if I decide to play sports, when it is something I hate, and I consider it because I can’t think of any other purpose, it is better to forget about it, because failure is guaranteed, with the consequent demotivation that this entails,” he warns.
According to the expert, several studies in recent years have confirmed with scientific evidence that the lack of will and lack of control of some stimuli are the factors that most prevent achieving the objectives set at the beginning of the year.
And a recent study published by an international group of experts, cited by the psychologist, concludes that people are not particularly good at keeping their New Year’s resolutions: about 66% of study participants abandoned their goals early. after the end of the month of January.
Why do we abandon our purposes?
Among the main causes related to failure to comply with the new year’s resolutions, it stands out that these are usually too vague, too optimistic and not very measurable.
“Among New Year’s resolutions, playing sports, studying a language, dieting or quitting smoking win by a landslide. These purposes are too generic, not very concrete. They seem like wildcard purposes for those who do not want to set a true personal purpose,” she says.
“On the other hand, to give an example, if you consider stopping consuming packaged juices, you will stop ingesting large amounts of sugar, and the result may surprise you in the dietary field,” adds Soler Labajos.
For this reason, anti-purposes act as a way to avoid self-imposed stress: “It is easier to free yourself from dynamics that do not bring you anything, or even harm you, than to acquire new ones to compensate for those already acquired that do not reward you.”
Psychological decalogue of antipurposes
The teacher of the UOC Soler Labajos advises following this decalogue in order to develop a strategy from a psychological point of view that contributes to increasing the chances of success when achieving the objectives set in the anti-purposes for the new year.
1. The mission of the antipurpose: Ask yourself what that anti-purpose serves you for at this moment. If the answer is not clear and forceful, forget about it. 2. Every decision is already an intention: it is impossible not to propose anything. Proposing not to make any resolution is a resolution. 3. Few, but interesting: the fewer anti-purposes, the better. Focus only on what really interests you. 4. Strategy for its achievement: Establish a strategy to achieve it. If there is no plan, there is no mission. 5. Short and medium term objectives: subdivides the antipurpose into several partial objectives. Progressive change is more feasible than radical change. 6. Realistic and measurable goals: Make sure the objectives are concrete, realistic, measurable, and allow a reasonable time to achieve them. Otherwise, you are building nonsense. 7. Persistence and self-permission to relapse: Give yourself permission not to get it the first time. Relapses are opportunities to come back. 8. The release of dynamics as a tool. It is easier to free yourself from dynamics that do not bring you anything, or even harm you, than to acquire new ones. Letting go of ballast is a good anti-purpose. 9. Focus on own goals: forget the purposes of others. Each one has their own. If by chance you agree on a goal with someone around you, share it. That will help you motivate yourself to achieve it. 10. Enjoy the present and the journey: The best goal is to ensure that the forecasts for the next 365 days do not ruin the present moment.
Good luck facing 2024 with balance and reasonable objectives.
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