If you are one of those people who have “good resolutions” every year at New Year, but ultimately fail to keep them, this article is for you!
- According to a study of 200 people, only 19% of people manage to keep their New Year’s “good resolutions” after two years.
- For psychologist Susan Albers, however, there are effective techniques to successfully stick to it.
- She advises, among other things, to have clear and realistic goals, but also to be kind to yourself.
“This year, I’m going to take up sports.” “It’s decided, in 2024 I’ll stop smoking.” “I’m going to reduce my carbon footprint by stopping eating meat.” Wanting to change one’s behavior, towards another that one judges to be better, is very often a custom that accompanies the New Year. And for good reason, starting a new year gives the feeling that one can change things, start off on the right foot … Yet, this study conducted on 200 people with “good” New Year’s resolutions, shows that after two years, only 19% of them continue to maintain this “good” behavior. “People tend to adopt the exact same resolution year after year, which shows the gap between what we do and what we want“, says psychologist Susan Albers. According to her, it is however given to everyone to change, provided they go about it intelligently. She explains the eight points to follow to achieve this.
Habits: focusing on new things rather than giving up
Research shows that it is easier to adopt a new behavior than to stop one. Therefore, the specialist advises choosing a goal that involves a new habit. “If you want to eat healthier, for example, your resolution might be to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables rather than avoiding processed foods or cutting out sugar”, she explains.
Have realistic goals
To succeed in keeping your commitments for the new year, it is necessarily more judicious to choose “sustainable” long-term objectives. We must therefore take the time to think about a behavior that we can really follow on a daily basis. For example, a person who does not do sport at all cannot start by directly wanting to do intensive and long sessions, but rather by starting with 30 minutes per day, three times per week.
Set specific goals
Good resolutions must always be clear and precise in the mind of the decision-maker! “The solutions must be concrete, insists Dr Albers. Instead of making a blanket resolution to “exercise more,” set a specific goal, like walking 20 minutes a day.”
Be flexible and forgiving with yourself
“Be flexible and forgiving, this can help you avoid feeling frustrated later”, says the psychologist. In other words, if you can’t completely meet your goal one day, it’s no big deal, you’ll be better the next day. We aim for progress rather than perfection!
Identify potential obstacles
“Identifying your obstacles early on can help you work around them and become more successful”, explains Dr. Albers. Work, family, fear, fatigue… We need to think about everything that could make the good resolution obsolete, whether it be physical or emotional obstacles. The latter are often more difficult to manage. Depending on your temperament, the psychologist advises:
- start making positive affirmations if you are prone to negative thoughts;
- to show self-compassion, if you tend to be hard on yourself;
- to work on managing your perfectionism, if you hate not seeing immediate results.
Find support to keep your spirits up
Social support is one of the main indicators of success in maintaining a good resolution, notes the specialist. A family member, work colleague, or even a coach can help you stay on track. And even better: group resolution! Not going it alone and working together is one of the keys to success.
Keep the goal in mind
“Our minds are busy and active, notes the psychologist. It’s easy to set a goal and quickly forget about it.” To avoid making this mistake, Dr. Albers recommends:
- configure your phone or calendar to send push notifications reminding you of the goal;
- post reminders on the desk or bathroom mirror;
- add the goal to to-do and shopping lists.
Track progress
“Keeping data can help you track your progress, but it can also help you on days when things aren’t going well”, she explains. “Looking back to see how you are doing can help you stay motivated.” The specialist suggests keeping a logbook, for example, or using a smartphone application.
You now have all the tricks to keep your New Year’s commitments! And if ever this year you’re not in the mood to make a resolution, the psychologist suggests other ways to self-improve, including setting an intention, rather than a duty, like “I want to be more positive”, or even “I am going to spend more time with my loved ones”. And keep in mind that a “Real, lasting change only happens when a person feels ready, not by picking an arbitrary date on a calendar”, underlines the psychologist.
