Frustrated with your New Year’s Resolutions?

How to make them more successful

A new study sheds interesting light on New Year’s Resolutions.

62 percent of Americans make regular or occasional resolutions for the New Year. 

Only 8% are actually successful (though 49% claim to have infrequent success).

Rank

Top 10 New Year’s resolutions for 2014

1 Lose Weight

2 Getting Organized

3 Spend Less, Save More

4 Enjoy Life to the Fullest

5 Staying Fit and Healthy

6 Learn Something Exciting

7 Quit Smoking

8 Help Others in Their Dreams

9 Fall in Love

10 Spend More Time with Family

The length of time a resolution requires the person to stick with it also has a direct correlation to how successful the resolution will be:

Length of Resolutions

75% Resolution maintained through first week

71% Past two weeks

64% Past one month

46% Past six months                                                         

Based on this, the longer time the resolution requires you to commit, the less likely you are to stick with it. So, keep it briefer!

Other studies and articles give valuable tips as well. Among the most frequently cited ideas are:

1. Pick only one resolution

Sticking to more than 1 New Year’s resolution is difficult to handle. Instead, analyze everything you’ve thought about to change and pick the one thing that’s most important for you.

2. Take baby steps: make it a tiny habit

Now that you’ve picked one resolution, make sure to break down as far as you can, to the simplest task possible. If your resolution is “going to the gym”, turn it into the tiniest habit possible that you can perform in under 60 seconds. For example: I will schedule an hour of gym time in my calendar 3 times a week.

3. Hold yourself accountable for what you want to change: Tell others or write it down

A 2007 study found a striking correlation between increased social support and lowering blood pressure, heart rate and cortisol. What does that have to do with New Year’s resolutions?

Well, it has provided strong evidence that the people around you can have a significant impact on your behavior. So if you tell some of your friends and family about the new tiny habit you’ve created, you are much more likely to stick to it.

4. Focus on the carrot, not the stick: positive feedback and rewards increase your chance of success

Rewarding yourself for advances with your habits with things that make you feel great are a sure fire way to increase your success rate according to author R. Wiseman (59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute)

So treating yourself to an unhealthy snack after a few days of successful changes to your diet habits is more than appropriate if you really want to make it through to the other end.

Reference:  University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology. Published: Dec 13, 2013