It’s easy to be cynical about New Year’s resolutions. They’ve become less than a punchline these days–we hear scoffing about how gym memberships soar in January (ironically, the people doing the scoffing don’t darken the door of the gym at any time of year).
This is one instance where conventional wisdom is flat out wrong. Science has proven that people who set New Year’s Resolutions are more successful in achieving their desired life outcomes than those who don’t.
So take the opportunity this week to set some resolutions for yourself. A resolution, as I’m defining it, has more to do with a change in your personal behavior than an outcome in the physical universe. Stated differently, it’s about developing the habits (or mental state) that will ultimately bring about your desired outcome.
A goal would be something like “lose 30 pounds by November.” A resolution that would support that goal might be “I will go to CrossFit 3 times every week and keep a log of everything I eat.”
Studies have shown that people who set New Year’s resolutions have a success rate upwards of 40%. As you’re thinking about the changes you’d like to make this year, I’d like to offer you some advice. First, how you should look at resolutions and goal-setting in general. And second, some practical pointers to maximize your chances of success.
How to Think About New Year’s Resolutions
Most people think of any kind of personal change as a one-off, something you just declare one day and then never think about again. To use the weight loss example again, they are holding the goal in their minds as “I’ll just lose 40 pounds, then never have to worry about my weight or health again.”
The same is true for organization. In fact, I learned this distinction from David Allen, author of Getting Things Done. He points out that organization isn’t a point you get to once and for all, but a continuously-evolving process of refocusing yourself–it’s how you manage your workflow when circumstances and needs change.
This is one of the main reasons that people fail at New Year’s resolutions: if they’re trying to exercise 3 times a week, and then a something unexpected happens in February that causes them to miss a week, they get taken out of the game. If that goal is a one-off, they’ve missed it and failed.
The better alternative to this is to think of goal-setting and resolution-making as an ongoing process that encompasses the occasional need to get back on track.
So if you find yourself missing the gym for a week in February, the new way to look at that is that you have a whole month of exercise under your belt, and now perhaps a re-commitment to fitness is needed to get you back on track. What can you tweak so that next time you get busy, you’ll be able to continue working out?
Embracing ongoing change as a part of your life is the best way to succeed at goals in the real world.
How to Make New Year’s Resolutions that Work
Here are some basic guidelines that can make your New Year’s resolutions stick this year:
- First, think of where you want to be one year from now. Since this is a credit repair blog, most of my readers will have financial goals, but feel free to make resolutions in several areas of your life. What do you want your credit score to be? How much debt do you want to have paid off? How much money do you want to have saved up? Get out a pen and paper and get really specific. Draw a picture of how you want your life to look in one year.
- Next, think of what habits will be needed to get you there. What can you commit to doing daily/weekly so that after 12 months, your life will be as you described it in the first exercise? Contribute to your IRA on a regular basis? Set aside money at the beginning of the month to pay down debt? Running a mile every day? Counting calories every day? These habits are your resolutions.
- Build in accountability. There is all kind of technology available for this. You can download apps onto your phone that will buzz you and remind you to go to the gym and such. But find someone you can report back to regularly on your progress, someone who won’t buy your BS when you come up with an excuse as to why you just couldn’t manage to work out this week.
- Keep a log. Again, there is technology for this: don’t break the chain, and many others. I use a day planner, and I have a column on the left margin to check off any habits I’m currently working on developing. Seeing that out on my desk each day helps remind and encourage me.