Welcome back team Stern! Though it may be a month into the New Year for most, we all know that our new year only started on the 26th. With that in mind I would like to discuss New Year's resolutions and how you can make them a success, with thanks to a Canadian journal I was recently reading. Whether you want to quit smoking, exercise more, eat healthier or lose weight, the average resolution lasts three weeks.
How resolutions work
"New Year's resolutions are a form of cultural procrastination," says Dr. Timothy Pychyl, an associate professor of psychology at Carleton University. Every culture shares the circle of rebirth and concept of a possible self where you have an intention, but start in January. If you really want to do something, you can start anytime.
Why resolutions work
New Year's resolutions tap into our hope to increase motivation. Dr. Pychyl says, "That feared or desired self acts as guide, a chance to look ahead to who I am becoming."
Why resolutions can fail
Studies suggest a level of readiness is critical to success. Attempts to break an unhealthy habit or make a healthy one often fail "because those people truly aren't ready to change," says Dr. Pychyl.
Unrealistic goals can set us up to fail and leave us with frustrated ambitions. Dr. Arya Sharma, a bariatric physician and head of the Canadian Obesity Network, believes continuing with a resolution depends on if you're happy with the changes or not, and whether changes are sustainable. But he says it's our overblown expectations that thwart success. Dr. Sharma advises, "Saying I'm going to go running 60-minutes everyday when you have never run before and are forcing yourself out the door, you'll stop."
Ultimately, resolutions fail because we're often looking for a miraculous cure, when we need to be realistic. "Many people are seeking to lose 20 to 40 percent of body weight right off the bat, informs Dr. Sharma. "There is a discrepancy between what is possible and what the body achieves. The best to hope for is losing three to five percent of body weight with lifestyle changes."
5 Ways You Undermine Yourself (And ways to keep your promise)
You give in to feel good. "I'll feel like it tomorrow" or "I don't have energy for that right now" are excuses you tell yourself in the false belief that your mental and motivational states have to match before you begin a task. Dr. Pychyl says excuses reinforce the negative behavior you desire to change. "We say, 'No more cake,' but we give in to feel good, then the "what the hell effect" takes hold, and you eat the whole cake."
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