How to keep your New Year’s resolutions

MANY of us make them, these promises to better ourselves for the new year, but why does it always feel so difficult to stick to these resolutions? 

In a recent study conducted by Drive Research, it showed that a whopping 80 per cent of people quit their new year’s resolutions within, wait for it, the first week! By February there are a mere 8 per cent of humans that are desperately hanging on to hope, however, only 2 per cent reported that they kept their resolutions throughout the whole year. Dire statistics when we think about the excitement and passion of people on December 31 as they look forward to their promised self improvement. 

Euro Weekly News spoke to five people this morning, all of which stated that they had indeed made new year’s resolutions. “I am sure this year I will keep them”, laughed Dylan Laylor, aged 31, who almost didn’t seem to believe what he was saying himself! “Mine are actually the same resolutions I made last year, so I suppose you could say I have little hope”, admitted Marbella resident, Gillian Stead. 

So, where does it all go wrong? Well, studies have shown that the first error is making promises but without a plan. For example, “I will not eat a family sized bar of chocolate every night”. But, that is what this person has been doing the previous year, and they are still the same person, so although they write it down, when temptation sets in they have no plan to resist it. Psychologists who study methods of self control have long warned about the worst approach that they call ‘response modulation’, staring down temptation with good old will power. The ancient Greeks were painfully aware that this was a terrible strategy, as shown in their myths. Famously, when Odysseus approached the Sirens, whose songs would lure men to their deaths, he plugged the ears of his crew and had himself bound to the mast of his ship. As Odysseus knew that confronting temptation without a plan was bound to fail sooner or later, he instead adopted a strategy that psychologists would now call ‘situation change’. Therefore, the first thing to do is to follow up your resolutions with a situation change. This involves paying close attention to social circumstances, the people and groups we belong to, as they have a substantial influence on behaviour, and setting ourselves up for progress, rather than failure. In other words, don’t buy the chocolate in the first place, or, plan to replace that action with a healthier option. 

Another error that many make is promising ourselves ‘too much too soon’. Keep resolutions short and sweet, as not to overwhelm. A wise woman once said “success by the inch is a cinch”, meaning take it little by little. Although it is tempting to plan a complete overhaul of everything you find ‘wrong’ in life, studies show that the longer the resolution list, the more likely it is to fail. 

Finally, accountability. Studies have shown that people who not only write down their goals, but also set up a way to be accountable for them, will be twice as likely to achieve them. Being accountable improves motivation because it means that you must be responsible to someone to accomplish the goal. Ways that you can set up accountability include: telling a friend, creating or joining an accountability group, either online or in person, using an app (there are many especially created for new year’s resolutions, or hiring a coach who will check in on you and make sure you are sticking to those promises that you made yourself! 

So don’t let these common obstacles get in the way of making 2024 the year that you achieve your goals! Remember, plan, be precise, keep it short and sweet, and find someone or something to keep you in check. Happy New Year!