Every year on December 31st, you turn the TV on to watch the ball drop. You make your wishes and resolutions and at the top of your lungs, go “3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!” And just like that, the Earth has made another circle around the sun and all the humans on Earth are either throwing up confetti or actually throwing up.The new year is a big deal. Not only does it offer a chance for redemption of some of the questionable things that happened the previous year, but the traditions around it are some of the most celebrated and anticipated activities.The most celebrated? Making New Year's resolutions. Whether it's to drink an adequate amount of water each day, or to make a specific amount of money throughout the year, new year's resolutions have a bad reputation for never being accomplished. As the years pass, it seems to be a common theme that the 2018 resolution looks a lot like the one in 2019 which looks a lot like the one in 2020…you get the idea.So why are New Year’s resolutions so hard to actually stick to, and is there a way to make sure they actually get accomplished?
People start strong.You actually get work done while it’s still light outside, or you finally start to grow those vegetables you wanted to harvest later, and it seems to be going really well. But there’s always that nagging voice telling you to go back to bed, to give up, to lose your positive mindset of hoping that you might be able to become a better person. It’s sad really. Because then day after day, night after night, the vegetables stop being watered and they slowly wilt. But people reassure themselves by saying that there’s always another chance next year. Over and over, this cycle is endless and tedious, which brings us to another point, how can we maintain self control? How can we have the strength to go through with our goals? This question seems to be prominent in many people’s lives. According to the Fisher College of Business, only 9% of people are actually able to stick with their resolutions. How do these superhumans do it? Believe it or not, there are actually very simple ways to stick to your goals, even if it doesn’t seem possible.
Now, to actually complete your new year resolutions, the first way is to create positive habits. A routine that’s connected to a final goal will be able to help you reach those goals. By creating a new habit, you are able to change your life one step at a time and these little changes slowly become regular habits. Day after day, the consistency molds our brains which can help support the process in order to go through with the goal. Although willpower may seem more important than creating habits, data shows that producing patterns that work towards the ultimate goal are more important than and increase the likelihood of actually following through with it.
Another strategy is to create little goals within that one big goal. This way, you trick yourself into thinking the little things are more achievable than the big ones and will feel more encouraged to complete the little goals because they seem easier than the big ones. A research paper done by the American Psychological Association (APA) discovered that “people are more likely to adhere to their standards at the beginning and the end of goal pursuit – and slack in the middle” (APA). By creating small milestones along the way, help revisit the motivation that made you want to achieve your goal in the first place. Furthermore, associate professor Naomi Sadeh at the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Delaware emphasizes “we all tend to break our long-term goals or slip up under certain circumstances…if you’ve had a really stressful day or you’re very tired — those sorts of environmental situations can make it more likely that we’ll do something impulsive, like brek our diet, for instance.” It’s no question that when humans get two options, one easy and one harder, we will tend to gravitate toward the easier one. It’s understandable. By making those smaller goals, it will be seen as taking the easier version which will make it more encouraging to do. Sadeh continues to say “people tend to opt for that sooner, smaller reward over the longer, bigger reward.”
At the end of the day, it may seem tedious and not-worth-it to create little habits in order to reach the bigger one and there’s bound to be some external factor that will affect your ability to do so. It’s important not to beat yourself up over these little things, because at the end of the day, goals are supposed to help us become a better person, and if you go down a hole of doubts, it’s not going to help you accomplish them.But remember, as the ball starts to drop and your resolution is in place, the confidence you have will allow that resolution come to life.