Shake Off the Quitter Jitters with an Honesty Audit

Feeling your New Year’s resolutions starting to slip? Is the “new you” returning to the old one? 

You are not alone!

In fact, these final few weeks of January are notorious for being the black hole of New Year’s resolutions, so much so that fitness tracking app Strava has been pinpointing its ‘Quitters’ Day’ (the day when most people give up on their goals) each year, by looking at their January data tracking habits and usage. 

From 2019 to 2022, January 17, January 19, January 15, and January 17 were Quitters’ Day, respectively, so there's no doubt some of us will have been struggling with motivation lately.

Of course, it’s completely understandable that the goals you set just a few short weeks ago have been perhaps more challenging to manage than expected, but that doesn’t mean they're impossible to achieve.

Instead of returning to your old lifestyle, you can use your awareness of your slowing motivation as an opportunity to take control of the situation and get back into a proactive mindset.

Here at For Wellness, one of our favorite ways of doing this is through an honesty audit. It’s a self-assessment, for your eyes only, that will help put you in the right headspace for progress.

Check out our guide below.

TIP: Ensure you’re giving this audit your fullest attention by recording your answers either with pen and paper or electronically. This will also help you review and stick to your goals.

1. What areas of your life do you need to audit?

For example, is it an unhealthy habit (like smoking or spending too much time on your phone), a routine (do you find yourself staying up later than you’d like and sleeping in longer than you’d like), mental health, physical health, relationships, spirituality, finances, and growth?

2. Why do you need to do an honesty audit?

Identify what the goal is of doing an honesty audit for yourself. Are you trying to make your wellness resolution and your busy schedule align? Or is it about adjusting your resolutions to something more achievable?

3. Assess how realistic your goal is

How much time will it take you per week to achieve this goal? How willing are you to invest the time in making the changes?

4. What do you want to know about the area of your life you’re auditing?

Ask yourself these three questions: How satisfied are you? What feels right to you? What feels wrong in these areas?

5. What impacts your decision-making?

When I make a decision, does it come from fear, low self-esteem, or what is best for me? Ask yourself how and why you make a judgment, such as when you choose to skip a workout, spend money, or eat junk food.

6. What else is at play?

What keeps me up at night?  What makes me the happiest? Are there thoughts I replay in my head?

7. Take action.

What practical things can I do to reach my goals? Do I need to download a finance tracker? Contact a health coach? Making simple changes to my morning routine with a workout and The Good Stuff?

Want to delve even further? Try answering the questions below for an even more comprehensive understanding of where each aspect of your life is standing.

Health

1. What does health mean to me?
2. What effort do I put into being healthier?
3. Do I know how to be healthy?
4. How much time do I spend thinking about exercise vs actually exercising?
5. Do I spend my downtime doing activities I enjoy?
6. How can I improve self care? Speak more kindly about myself?
7. Which is my most dominant emotion?

Relationships

1. Which people in my life make me happiest?
2. Which people in my life create stress or chaos?
3. How can I communicate better to the people in my life?
4. What do I want from my romantic relationship?
5. What steps can I take to develop a meaningful relationship?
6. How often am I checking social media to see what others are doing? Do I compare myself to others?

Finances

1. Do I carefully track my spending?
2. Do I have a budget?
3. Do I spend more than I am supposed to?
4. Why am I overspending? What is the purpose of the purchases I have made? To make me happy? To fulfill an empty feeling? Do these purchases make me feel better and for how long?
5. Is my income stable? Am I saving enough?

Career

1. Am I doing what I feel my purpose is?
2. Am I happy with work?
3. Do I stress over work more than I am happy to be there?
4. Do I feel fulfilled?
5. Is progressing in my field something I would like? What steps can I take to achieve my goal?

Of course, this audit isn't just about New Year's resolutions! Honesty audits are an excellent way to order the mind any time of year, about any topic...just remember the key to results in this one is being 100% truthful with yourself.