Are you one of those people that make resolutions that just don’t stick? Maybe you start off strong, or something happens that makes you just give up or you just don’t know where to start.
Luckily, there are scientifically proven methods you can try to both make and stick to New Year’s resolutions.
Putting your resolution down into manageable parts keeps you from becoming overwhelmed. Instead of making one end-goal – break down all the components that lead to the end goal. It’s much easy to get going and keep momentum when you are focusing on smaller objectives.
For example, if your resolution is to lose weight, simply saying I will lose 20 pounds by x date doesn’t give you any motivation or a place to start. Putting that same 20 pounds into its component parts gives you an exact place to start.
You can lose that much if you exercise x amount per day. Consume x calories per day. You can even determine your end date based on the x amounts that you know you can accomplish.
Build one-time actions into your plan by listing scenarios that may arise based on your daily goals. If I don’t do this, then I will do this. For example, if I don’t meet my calorie goal then I will add x amount of time to work out.
Social psychologist Heidi Grant Halvorson stated, “Human beings are particularly good at encoding and remembering information in ‘If X, then Y’ terms, and using these contingencies to guide our behavior, often below our awareness.”
Put this into practice by integrating your components into your daily routine. For instance, I will work out for 20 minutes right when I get done working. If I don’t, then I will work out directly after dinner.
If your current environment is not conducive to the goals that you set – you need to make modifications to your environment until it is. For example, if you plan to work out directly after work but a neighbor comes by every day around the same time, ask them to wait until later to stop by.
Small things like this can truly make a difference over time!
