How’s Your New Years Resolution Going?

Did you make a New Year’s Resolution?

If you did, you’re not alone: Millions of people around the world see January 1 as the magical date for a fresh start.

A recent Forbes Health/OnePoll of 1,000 U.S. adults looked at American’s resolutions and found that the top three were 1) improved fitness (48%); 2) improved finances (38%); and improved mental health (36%), followed closely by losing weight (34%).

Sound familiar?

But commitment to New Year’s resolutions can get rocky pretty quickly. The same poll found:

• The average resolution lasts just 3.74 months
• Only 8% of respondents tend to stick with their goals for one month, while
• 22% last two months
• 22% last three months and
• 13% last four months

Falling short on your good intentions? Don’t give up. You don’t need all the fanfare of New Year’s Eve to make a fresh start. In fact, it could be argued that each and every day could be the start of something new, if we choose to make it so.

By revisiting and reframing our New Year’s resolutions, we can find new resolve and make positive changes that stick.

New Year’s Rewind

If you made a New Year’s resolution, think back to why you initiated it. Maybe you indulged in too many holiday meals that made you feel stuffed, or you noticed that your clothes were fitting a little tighter. Or you became slightly uncomfortably aware that you may have had too much to drink, too many nights in a row. Commitment to your workout schedule vanished.

All those holiday factors can add up to a lot of dissatisfaction and guilt, which, naturally, meant that you could easily overcorrect and create a difficult-to-maintain New Year’s resolution.

“I will work out at the gym every day,” is a tough promise to keep because, you know, life happens. So is never eating carbs again. Eventually, we are likely to slip up on those all-or-nothing declarations.

Researchers have hypothesized that New Year’s resolutions lack the “discontinuity effect.” Habits develop when we repeat behaviors, and they are reinforced the more everything around us stays the same.

To make changes stick, you have to change the factors around the habit. The factor of location is a good example. If you move to a new house in a different neighborhood, you’re likely to drop your old grocery store and shopping at a new one nearby. But a big change in habits just because it’s January 1? That’s probably not a factor big enough to inspire lasting change.

Good Goals

Now that the pressure of a New Year’s Resolution is behind us, let’s look at a couple of ways to make our better health goals stick.

Try an approach-oriented goal

It’s tempting to say “I’m so fat. In the new year, I will give up my bad habit of eating dessert.” That’s what’s called an avoidance-oriented goal. You’ve taken the logical step of pinpointing a problem area, but you’ve made your response negative, almost like a punishment.

Research suggests that avoidance goals are less successful and might be actually harmful to our well-being.

Creating approach goals, or positively reframing your goals is a better tactic.

If you know you eat too many sugary snacks, for example, think about the bigger picture. Maybe you want to lower your risk of diabetes so you’ll be around longer for your family.

An approach goal could be, “I will choose healthier snacks, like fruit, instead of dessert most days of the week, because my family is so important.” That’s a positive message that just feels more positive and encouraging, right?

Develop an action plan

Once you’ve set a positive, approach-oriented goal, take a minute and think about where, when and how you’ll work to attain that goal.

If your goal is to be more physically fit, set that goal into motion by making a plan that is attainable. It might not be practical to say you’ll go to the gym every day—after all, just look around at the crowds the first week of January, only to see idle elliptical machines by the end of the month. So maybe the plan is to hit the gym three times a week, and walk the other days.

Plan for contingencies, too. If your fitness plan is to walk around the neighborhood for 20 minutes after dinner, give yourself an option for those evenings when it is too cold or rainy, like a YouTube exercise video or a fast-walk through an indoor mall.

New Year’s resolutions are a fun tradition, but when you’re serious about making positive changes, there’s nothing like remembering the old adage, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” No matter what the calendar says, it’s a great day to reach a new goal.