New beginnings…
For many, the new year signifies a time of new beginnings. Such beginnings often mean creating resolutions to improve oneself. The most popular resolutions include managing one’s health, with other resolutions involving money, personal relationships, and career goals. Although most Americans dislike making resolutions, doing this can lead to positive outcomes (Gracia, 2024).
Unfortunately, many people struggle to follow through on their resolutions. Having intentions that are time constrained, as well as the stress and challenges that come up when trying to change, are part of why resolutions often fail (Howley, 2023).
Although New Year’s resolutions may seem destined to fail, there are ways that one can be successful within this. Here are a few ways that this can occur:
Set approach-oriented goals, instead of avoidance-oriented goals:
Approach-oriented goals are created to form positive outcomes. In contrast to this, avoidance-oriented goals are made to prevent a negative outcome. A study observing the effectiveness of New Year’s resolutions found that 58.9% of those with approach-oriented intentions were successful with their resolutions, as opposed to the 47.1% who were successful with intentions that were avoidance-oriented (Oscarsson et al., 2020).
Although avoiding negative behaviors is important, setting intentions focused on this can lead to feeling stressed and anxious. These negative feelings may cause someone to feel discouraged, leading to not succeeding within their goals. For example, someone may have a resolution to lose weight. This seems to be reasonable, but would be considered avoidance-oriented due to being framed negatively. A more positive, approach-oriented outlook would be a resolution involving eating more healthier foods or working out more consistently. This positivity can lead to feeling as if you are approaching a new challenge, one that can be solved with enough effort.
Set intentions that are realistic:
People often set intentions that are large in scale. Doing this involves having to complete more demanding tasks, which may seem daunting. While having intentions that are challenging is commendable, it may be a better idea to set intentions that are more approachable.
Dr. Asim Shah states that many resolutions fail due to the goals set being idealistic and potentially unachievable (Barnes, 2024). A healthier approach is through setting intentions that are more grounded. If your resolution is larger or more challenging, setting smaller intentions within this larger goal will make this much less intimidating and seem more possible to accomplish.
Continue, even if you fail:
“Failures” often arise when trying to accomplish something. Whether this be due to feeling discouraged, procrastinating tasks that need to be done, or other reasons, achieving an accomplishment can be an inconsistent process. According to Kristen M. Carpenter, PhD, many view such inconsistency as the end of their resolution (Howley, 2023). This is understandable, as experiencing failures can be annoying and discouraging.
It is important to acknowledge when pitfalls occur and why they occurred. However, this occurrence does not mean that an individual cannot still go through with their New Year’s resolutions. Realizing this not only allows for someone to continue towards achieving their goals, but to also have a healthier, more forgiving mindset with themselves.
The start of the New Year is often looked at as a time of new beginnings. While this can be the case, it is important to acknowledge the difficulties that can be present when trying something new. Having such a perspective, along with following the aforementioned tips, can foster an environment that will allow for more success within your New Year’s resolutions.
-Shabib Afzal, Administrative Assistant
References:
Barnes, T. (2024, January 11). New Year's resolutions: Why do we give up on them so quickly? Retrieved from https://www.bcm.edu/news/new-years-resolutions-why-do-we-give-up-on-them-so-quickly
Howley, K. (2023, December 22). Why Most New Year's Resolutions Fail. U.S. News. Retrieved from https://health.usnews.com/wellness/articles/why-new-years-resolutions-fail
Gracia, S. (2024, January 29). New Year’s resolutions: Who makes them and why. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/01/29/new-years-resolutions-who-makes-them-and-why/
Oscarsson, M., Carlbring, P., Andersson, G., & Rozental, A. (2020). A large-scale experiment on New Year's resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. PloS one, 15(12), e0234097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234097
