According to the Statistic Brain website, about 40 percent of people make New Year’s Resolutions, but less than 10 percent of people actually stick to their resolutions. Statistic Brain claims that there are ten top resolutions people commit to:
- Lose weight/improve my diet 21.4 percent
- General self and life improvements 12.3 percent
(get up earlier, be more productive) - Improve finances 8.5 percent
- Quit smoking 7.1 percent
- Do more new and exciting things 6.3 percent
- Spend more time with family and friends 6.2 percent
- Exercise more 5.5 percent
- Learn something new (eg a language) 5.3 percent
- Help other people 5.2 percent
- Find the love of my life 4.3 percent
I didn’t find this list surprising. It covers people’s most basic desires. Essentially we all aspire to prosper emotionally (spend more time with friends, find love), intellectually (learn something new), physically (lose weight and diet), financially (improve our circumstances) and spiritually (help other people). If you have read any of my books then you know I think you need to fervently commit to these goals every day of the year, not just in January!
Celebrity New Year’s Resolutions
There are celebrities and successful business people who make annual New Year’s Resolutions. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a supporter of New Year's resolutions. He publicly pledges a new challenge every year. In 2009 he resolved to wear a tie every day, in 2011 he vowed to become a vegetarian, and last year he committed to meeting new people right across the US.
Melinda Gates, co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has a different approach to resolutions. Instead of setting a resolution, she picks a single word to guide her over the next 12 months. In 2016, her word was ‘gentle’. “I've found this to be more successful than setting a more traditional resolution, because instead of prompting a radical change in behaviour, it encourages a gradual change in mindset,” Mrs Gates wrote.
80 percent of people fail in the first 12 weeks.
Prince Harry’s new fiancé Meghan Markel’s New Year’s Resolution is to stop biting her finger nails and give up swearing, but she also admits that’s been her New Year’s Resolution for several years! Better luck this year, Meghan. According to a Finder.com poll, 80 percent of people fail to keep their New Year’s Resolution in the first 12 weeks. So what are the best methods to keep resolutions? I did some research and here is what I have found.
Commit to a plan not a resolution
The author of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg, said the way to keep a New Year’s Resolution is to stop making them – or rather don’t think of them as a resolution, but a long-term plan. You have to ‘prepare’ to change your behaviour and it’s often best to start with baby steps. Instead of going on a strict diet, gradually cut out sweet food and then starches. Professor of health psychology at the University of Manchester, Chris Armitage, says preparation is crucial. If you want to run a marathon, then start by preparing for a short Monday morning jog on Sunday night. Set your alarm, find your running gear. Essentially you have to make changing your behaviour as easy as possible, because we people are very good at resisting change. A report from the New York firm, Dstillery, found that people who travelled 8km to the gym went once a month, whereas people who travelled 6km went five or more times a month. That 2km makes the difference between having a good exercise habit and not. We adults like things to be easy not hard.
Be kind to yourself if you want to succeed
We are more likely to stick to a resolution if we are kind to ourselves. You have to use the carrot rather than the stick! Dr Jessamy Hibberd, a clinical psychologist, says the biggest obstacle to new habits is self-criticism. Studies show that self-criticism reduces motivation and weakens self-control. In contrast being kind and supportive to yourself gets results. Treat yourself as you would a friend – especially when confronted with failure. Encourage yourself to keep going.
Professor of psychology and business at the University of Southern California, Wendy Wood, said you need to provide yourself plenty of upfront motivation. “Don’t buy a new pair of jogging shoes at the end of the week … the reward needs to be immediate, something that makes the behaviour fun.”
Do it in the mornings!
Studies also find that beginning a new behaviour is easy in the morning than afternoon. That means you need to exercise before work not after. Researchers believe this may have to do with levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which tend to be highest when we wake up. That chemical can work as a source of motivation and power us on.
The Finder.com study I referred to earlier said the main reason people fail is because they don’t tell others about their goals. If you make a New Year’s Resolution you should tell the world, because other people will hold you accountable and encourage you. The study found that of those people who achieved their resolutions, three-quarters found that telling other helped immensely. You can also make yourself more accountable by using apps, a diary or a chart to track your progress. “People who monitor behaviour tend to do a better job, even if they’re not actively trying to change,” says Gretchen Rubin, the author of Better than Before.
Be careful, old habits linger!
Old habits linger and can remain dormant ready to re-activate if circumstances get tough. For example, someone with a weight problem may slim right down to a healthy weight but faced with a life crisis they may start over-eating and pile the weight back on. This is because habits get ‘hard-wired’ in our brains. These habits are stored as motor behaviours, meaning they can be reactivated. Changing underlying patterns takes persistence and patience and there is bound to be setbacks.
It is essential that you prepare for setbacks. It is almost inevitable that you will fall off the wagon and need to start again. The Australian Cancer Council suggests that it takes 12 to14 attempts to stop smoking.
Keep trying …
You need to be prepared to commit again to the resolution if you fail. Remember if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, TRY again.
I do like what Charles Duhigg said: the best way to keep a New Year’s Resolution is to stop making them – or rather think of them as a long-term plan that you must persevere with for months, if not years!
ABOUT PAT MESITI
Pat Mesiti is a best-selling author, coach and educator in the area of personal development. Having built some of Australia’s largest people-driven organisations, Pat understands the power of harnessing human potential. He has shared the stage with some of the world’s great business minds and has sold over millions of copies of his books and materials.