Only 1 in 5 New Year’s Resolutions Succeed. Here's Why.
How are you doing with your resolutions this year? Are you worried about them sticking over time? If so, you're not alone. Despite good intentions, most people (around 8 in 10) will have abandoned whatever they resolved to do differently by February in the New Year.
Why are New Year’s resolutions so hard to keep? More often than not, it's because people don't have a real plan. Most people do not define what they want to accomplish in clear, measurable terms. On top of this, most don't know how they will get there. They haven't thought about how to deal with challenges or barriers to meeting their goals, or how they can reorganize things in their lives to make it easier to keep resolutions.
Developing good habits is more than just saying you’re going to change something. That’s why Tall Tree has created a new professional discipline – behavioural science experts who are trained masters at getting you to change your habits. We call these remarkable clinicians Change Coaches.
With rigorous training in behavioural science and deep knowledge of scientifically supported techniques, our coaches are uniquely positioned to help build your toolbox with the skills and self-awareness needed for successful change.
“Why are New Year’s resolutions so hard to keep? More often than not, it’s because people don’t have a real plan.”
Here are our change coaches’ top tips for how you can stick with your New Year’s resolutions.
TIP 1: Set your initial goal (and keep it small).
Translate a general health goal that you have into a target behaviour. For example, “I need to relax” could be translated into “I will practice relaxation exercises for 10 minutes, once a day after dinner, 2 days per week.” One key aspect of goal setting, according to this approach, is to start with a target that is small and achievable, and then build slowly upon success.
TIP 2: Arrange your environment for success.
Modify your home/work environment to encourage new habits that you want to cultivate and to discourage old habits that you want to decrease or eliminate. For example, if you want to stop drinking sodas, remove these drinks from the home refrigerator and storage pantries. Alternatively, if you want to walk more frequently, place walking shoes at the front door as a reminder. The possibilities for arranging your environment are almost endless. Simply think about ways in which your desired actions can be prompted while undesired actions can be made more difficult.
TIP 3: Recruit a support team.
Seek the positive influence of family, friends, and others to help meet your goals. Identify buddies or peers, meaning people who want to achieve similar goals, to provide camaraderie along the way. Also, find some supporters, meaning people who are not necessarily making changes themselves but who agree to support your efforts.
TIP 4: Monitor your progress (and celebrate your wins).
This is perhaps the most overlooked component of success. Self-monitoring, using a simple chart, can be used to track virtually anything you do, including exercising, eating, spending money, etc. Research has shown that self-monitoring has an impact, in and of itself, on the target action. Those who self-monitor are more than twice as likely to maintain change over time. Watch your progress visually on a chart and it will start to become a type of reward in itself.
The research is clear: if you want to keep your resolution, you need a real plan. Your plan must define your target behaviour in clear terms, include how you will change your surroundings to encourage your resolution, involve the support of others, and allow you to self-monitor your progress along the way.
Need a little extra push to build some healthy habits this year? Our change coaches are here to help.
Megan Van Heyningen, Change Coach
RELATED POSTS
