Every January 1, millions of ambitious New Year’s resolutions are established with the aim of making life better. Resolutions are now a cultural phenomenon, from working out to the pursuit of a new pastime. However, even in the face of all the attention, research shows that most resolutions are worn off within a few weeks. Do New Year’s resolutions really do the job or are new year resolutions just kidding around taking this self-improvement personally?
It is the case, New Year’s resolutions are only so symbolic, after all. In all practical terms, the new year is the time to begin from zero; yet, in reality, change does not always need to be tied to a calendar date. Pressures to make sudden, radical changes to the way one lives can lead to feelings of failure and exhaustion when such changes do not come about. Because if they want to get things done, why not do it today instead of waiting until January 1st?
It’s no secret that New Year’s resolutions have a pretty poor success rate. According to CBS News, by mid-February, nearly 80% of resolutions have gone out the window. But why does this happen so often? Most importantly, it is the fact that people hold overly ambitious, big picture goals instead of specific, and well-articulated steps on how to realize them that is the problem. Resolutions such as “get in better shape” or “eat right/better” are vague enough to only make progress or feel motivated to make the changes which need to be made. With the lack of a guide map, human’s motivation ceases to exist and the familiar behavior takes hold of a ghost’s voice.
One reason that New Year’s resolutions falter is that they are both intensely reliant on willpower, a finite resource. Work from PAR Inc., has demonstrated that long-term change does not come from willpower in itself, i.e. Stressors of the day and demands of life use a lot of mental energy, and it is very hard to follow a new behaviour. Humans tend to overestimate their ability to “get motivated”, and once the die is cast, motivation fades, forgotten, and frustration kicks in.
Furthermore, many resolutions are outcome-oriented rather than process-oriented. For instance, a person may decide to lose 20 pounds, but the steps that must be taken toward the target are downplayed. Or if the results don’t come quickly enough, they get discouraged and give up. Obviously, true success is the type of activity that breeds recurring behavior over the long term, not the so-called instant miracle.
As soon as January rolls around, social media sites overflow with “New Year, New Me” posts, and the belief is reinforced that one must reinvent themselves every year in a new year. But this kind of thinking can be damaging. It argues that there is something wrong with the previous version of us, who ought to have a major overhaul. This generates a tremendous expectation that results in a failure due to the all-or-none approach in which things must be viewed.
Personal development should be a kind of care-giving activity of so-called self-screening. In other words, instead of trying to become a completely different person in the upcoming year, one should take small steps of improvement that correspond to and fit his or her values and style of living. By achieving smaller, achievable goals over the course of the year, they are more likely to sustain transformation without the weight of a January 1st resolution.
Perhaps the biggest lie about self-development is that it is something that comes at the beginning of the year. Actually, change can occur at any time. It may be eating healthier in the summer, or budgeting in the fall, but there is a time for a change that makes sense not when the calendar page tells you it’s due but when you in fact are ready to take a change, and where you in fact feel the desire to make that change, not because the schedule forces you to do so.
Dr. Rachel Goldsmith, a psychologist, was quoted in a Southern New Hampshire University article and stated that “individuals become more inclined to enact useful changes if the change appears to come from within, as opposed to being driven from the outside, such as by a cut-off date from the calendar. Get rid of those artificial, time-based schedules and people are no longer bound by natural time to deal with their goals.”
Abandon the transient New Year’s resolutions and think of an alternative approach to the setting of long-term oriented objectives that is more advantageous. The development has been the attainment of SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound goals). An example might be to say, “I want to get fit,” which would, instead, be formulated into a SMART goal as “I will go to the gym three times a week for 30 minutes each session”.
Focus on instilling small, constant habits. Habit development requires lots of time and only after that, through infinitely tiny steps, it can be kept recurrently. Similarly, being able to commit to drinking more water throughout the day or just walking 15 minutes every day will eventually, over a period of time, pave the way toward a healthy living style that is not particularly overwhelming.
Another key aspect of sustaining success over the long term is the monthly level of reflection and goal-adjustment. Periodic contact will enable a person to remain current, to become aware of progress and to adjust as required. It is real-life problem based and does not use all‐or‐nothing kind of thinking, which is usually responsible for failure.