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[bigletter]Did you make a health-focused New Year’s resolution this year? Can making a pact with yourself to eat well, join a gym, or lose weight lead to lasting health benefits?[/bigletter]
It depends.
Not just for New Year’s
Although New Year’s is the most popular date to make resolutions, don’t let the calendar stop you from resolving to create lasting change in your life. Making resolutions provides us with a fresh start and a new beginning. We relegate our old selves to the past and feel capable of pursuing new goals and dreams for the future. People around the world make resolutions on holidays, birthdays, Mondays, or other personally significant dates.
So, why is it difficult to keep resolutions?
Still in the game
It’s been almost a month since January 1. Did your resolution last a week? If yes, congrats! Twenty-two percent of people quit within seven days. Another 40% abandon their goals after a month, and 50% after three months.
The statistics are bleak, but there is hope.
One in five people successfully maintains their resolution after two years – and reaps tremendous health benefits. Such people move more, weigh less, and have renewed energy to focus on their goals and the people around them.
Four strategies for strengthening your resolutions
If you can’t make your resolution stick, any health benefits will be fleeting. Try these strategies to boost your chances for long-term success.
Remember: mistakes are not failure; aim for persistence, not perfection.
- Reflect
You want change, but does your resolution fit your life?
Do you take a bus with three transfers to get to the gym?
Is your afternoon too full to prepare home-cooked meals?
Which is healthier for you: adequate sleep or a pre-breakfast workout?
What role do your bad habits play in your life? What needs are they meeting?
If you choose a goal that leaves your needs unmet or requires resources you don’t have – time, energy, or money – you are unlikely to be successful.
When it comes to planning, be a realist, not an optimist. Make a specific, measurable, and achievable change that moves you one step closer to where you want to be. Think about the next step only after that behavior has become a habit.
- Be approach-oriented
An approach-oriented goal is a forward-moving goal. Resolve to eat more fruits instead of resolving to abstain from sugar. Resolve to spend more time outside instead of resolving to spend less time on screens. Research shows that approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance goals.
- Journal using the ABC model for deeper insight
Journal your behaviors using the ABC model: Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence. Keep track of what antecedes (happens before) a behavior. Were you bored or hungry prior to eating that bag of chips? How did you feel after?
Paying attention to your emotions and to your body’s physical sensations before and after a behavior leads to insight and direction for change.
- Find a support group
A three-thousand-year-old proverb written by King Solomon advocated for support groups. In Ecclesiastes, he writes, “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
This wisdom still stands today.
Is there someone you see regularly who shares your values? Keep each other accountable as you work together towards your goals.
You will secure health benefits from your New Year’s resolutions – if you can make them stick. Learn to be the one in five … and bring others along for the ride!
Alice Blackmore
Alice Blackmore is a Registered Nurse. She has a Master’s in Nursing and owns her own freelance writing business, Insightful Nursing.
References
Better Help Editorial Team. (2022). Understanding The Antecedent Behavior Consequence Model. Better Help. https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/behavior/understanding-the-antecedent-behavior-consequence-model/
Farnsworth, D., Clark, J. L., Cothran, H., Wysocki, A. (2005). Developing SMART Goals for Your Organization. University of Florida. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FE577
Dai, H., Milkman, K. L., Riis, J. (2014). Management Science, The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior. https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901
Duhigg, C. (2014). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Anchor, Canada.
New Living Translation. Ecclesiastes 4:12. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes%204%3A12&version=NLT
Oscarsson, M., Carlbring, P., Andersson, G., & Rozental, A. (2020). A Large-scale Experiment on New Year’s Resolutions: Approach-oriented Goals are More Successful than Avoidance-oriented Goals. PLoS One. NIH, Pub Med. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33296385/
Rössner, S. M., Hansen, J. V., & Rössnerc, S. (2011). New Year’s Resolutions to Lose Weight – Dreams and Reality. NIH. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6444530/
Wimmer, S., Lackner, H. K., Papousek, I., & Paechter, M. (2018). Goal Orientations and Activation of Approach Versus Avoidance Motivation While Awaiting an Achievement Situation in the Laboratory. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01552/full
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