The psychology of New Year's resolutions and why they don't work (Steemitbloggers Contest)
New Year's resolutions is a popular topic in December. Same questions and same answers year after year with some people having the same decisions for the last ten years and still haven't done anything about them. Why do you think that is? Since @zord189 made a weekly assignment in the @steemitbloggers, my motivation for this post is to explain to people why they suck at sticking to their resolutions and show them ways which will help in being better at them. Yes, it is possible, highly improbable but possible. Statistics are not on your side but there are ways for sticking to your decisions.
CC0 image, Pixabay, author: monicore
Today we will talk about the psychology of decision making and what kind of thought processes are involved. I will give you some data from analysis and researches just as I will share tips and trick that will help you stick to your decisions longer. Are you ready? Let's go!
According to statistics, more than 80% of people will fail at their resolutions by the first week of February. A study from 2016 found that 55% of resolutions were health-related (exercising more, eating healthier etc) and about 20% were to do with getting out of some sort of debt. These kinds of decisions are hard to follow on any other time of the year, why do people put pressure on themselves to achieve them after the holidays when they have eaten a lot and spent a lot of money? Are people delusional or is there something else going on?
How do those 20% of people do it?
According to that same study, people who did make it had one thing going for them, the enjoyment factor was all that mattered. Hm, who knew that happiness had anything to do with anything? Khm, I TOLD YOU THAT LIKE A MILLION OF TIMES! Do you listen? Noooooooo... :D Anyway, if the participants were getting immediate rewards from their new habits and felt joy, they would be more likely to stick to them. Happiness is everything. You can read the full research here:
Immediate Rewards Predict Adherence to Long-Term Goals by Kaitlin Woolley and Ayelet Fishbach
The problem may be related to the word should, it is such a demotivating word. Try using will instead of it and see if something inside you changes. There is also the matter of false hope syndrome that is characterized by a person's unrealistic expectations about the likely speed, amount, ease and consequences of changing their behavior. To put it simpler, people can be delusional and unrealistic. If you were gathering that weight on you for ten years, you will not get it off in a month. Everyone expects fast results and get disappointed when they do not come.
Do you want to have a bigger chance of sticking to your resolution? Do not start with it on January the first. Start with it now. Do not wait for that date to come, if you want something changed, change it now. If you are not satisfied with something, why would you wait until you start working on it?
Be realistic!
Setting out many smaller goals instead of one huge one has been shown to provide better results so think of it as climbing up the stairs and each stair being your one small goal. You would not expect yourself to jump 20 stairs at once, would you? Why do you expect to jump 20 goals at once? Try to be realistic. I am not saying that you can not do something, you can but you need to know how to do it to be successful. Do not work against yourself and know your psychology. Give yourself little rewards along the way and pat yourself on the back when you do good, you deserve some encouragement. Speaking of encouragement, either ignore bad attitude from others or find new people to spend time with. Do not let other people bring you down and influence you. No matter what you do, aim to be happy and you will achieve those goals in no time.
I am not big on dates and giving them special meanings. I made my resolutions a week ago while I was doing my contemplation about the last year. I do this every December. I go over everything that has happened, what I achieved, who I met, what I did, where I was and so on. It is the same time that I conclude what to do next and make some plans. The final decision takes place on December 21st so I am still in that thinking period but since most of my decisions have been made, it is more of an encouraging and planning period where I am telling myself that I can do it and planning ways and actions that will help me on that journey.
What did I decide?
I WILL BE MORE.
Yup, I will be more. Think more, act more, do more, and be more. More smiles, more happiness, more reading, more dancing and singing, more more more. More traveling, more exercising, more good food, more coffee and chocolate, more ice-cream, spending time with friends, more learning, more more more. I have like a thousand resolutions and all have a common theme: improvement. I am on a mission to be more and that more needs to involve me becoming a better person with each passing day. Wish me luck! On a second thought, no, do not wish me luck. Wish me strong will and determination, wish me passion, strength, and courage. Above all else, wish me happiness. I wish the same tofor you!
To learn more about this topic and how you can succed, check out these REFERENCES:
The psychology behind and why we cant keep new years resolutions from businessinsider.com
The Psychology Of New Year’s Resolutions" from iflscience.com
Psychology Explains New Year Resolutions, Hits and Misses from psychologytoday.com
Making New Year's Resolutions Work for You from psychologytoday.com
Until next time,
KEEP YOUR SMILE ON!
Image sources AND LICENCES in order of appearance:
- all images used in this post are free for commercial use, they are royalty free with the links to original images provided under them
- line divider that I use is from FREE CLIPART LIBRARY, and is here
- title pictures are made by me using the CC0 image from pixabay that can be found here
- my bitmoji avatar was created on https://www.bitmoji.com/, visit the site to create yourown
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I'm one of those statistic wrecking folks. I have made and followed my New Year's Resolution perfectly for 19 of the last 20 years. It's the same resolution so I don't have to piss away much time thinking about what I need to do.
I will not wear a necktie this year.
The only time I gagged was for my sister-in-laws funeral. Seemed appropriate at the time. I have been to multiple funerals since and have held strong. A few weddings, too.
Not that I don't make assessments and changes in my life, I'm just not liable to do so on some sort of schedule. I started journaling for the first time in my life on that most portentous of days, November 23.
Thanks for a great article. I love it when I don't go the same way as everybody else.
You know what? I lied. It just occurred to me that I wore a tie twice and it wasn't the same year. I walked a friend down the aisle at her wedding. Rode my motorcycle 2500 miles and she had a rented tux ready for me. With a perriwinkle tie. Who knew?
Hihi, of all "I will not" resolutions I think yours is the funniest one! Thanks for sharing honey, you did make me smile and I am always grateful for that 💚
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Awww, how very true!
Lately, I just raise my glass of fine red wine to ...Life!
Most probably, @lifesacircus would like to read this lovely content! Enjoy the day :-)
That is a good toast, to life! 💚
I haven't ever made a NY resolution! I think it's easier to just make life goals and change as you learn. Like smoking cigarettes, cold turkey was the way for me. Saying you'll start on a particular day only puts off that urge to change. I like your tips though, very useful!
Yeah, procrastination of our decisions never goes well, if you want to change something, change it now :)
Petra this is the exact reason Why i dont do them😂😂 Do you want to have a bigger chance of sticking to your resolution? Do not start with it on January the first. Start with it now.
I started yesterday hagah
Exactly! Do not wait for a special date to make a change :)
Spot on! Dont want to do what everybody is doing !
My this year's resolutions have all gone for a toss, not because I lost interest but due to all the health issues that cropped up. But yes as you say most of the times the resolutions are just a Year end and New year hype 😃
And I wish you all the smiles, happiness, dancing, singing, travelling and all the goodies for 2019 with lots of love 💖💖
I take those wishes, multiply them and send them back to you 💚💚💚
Definitely some great points here! It is nuts how people often use a resolution in such a negative way to almost punish themselves instead of bringing more joy to the process as you suggest. I try to do the same as you--take this time to reflect on this past year and use it to inform what I want to take on in the next! I kind of like the marking of a fresh new year, but definitely try not to tie all of my goals to one part of the year. There's much more time than just January to work on self-improvement. :)
Yes! We should work on improving ourselves during the entire year 💚
The bit about setting resolutions that make you happy is something I'm really aiming for in 2019. I love making resolutions and usually make a bunch and accomplish about 30-50% of them. I think overall that's not too bad, but it's always bugged me I could never get that 100%! lol. This upcoming year I'm trying to take the pressure off myself and focus on what I actually want to do, rather than what I think I should do.
That is a great number actually, kudos! Most people achieve nothing and you accomplish 50%? WOW! I wish you all the success with the next year and am proud of you for wanting to do what you want and not what you think you should! 💚
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