I’m really not keen on New Year’s resolutions. I can see the attraction of their connection to a sense of renewal at the start of the year, but for most people, their success rate is tiny.
I suspect a lot of resolutions are driven by a desire to “fix” the unwanted effects of excessive indulgence over the previous month or so, and fixing something is never a good foundation for creating lasting change. You can start a new behaviour any time you want, and I recommend that is what you do. When you want to change something in your behaviour, whether it’s the 1st of January, the 11th of March or the 27th of October, that is the perfect time to do it.
Incidentally, it’s worth noting that stopping an undesired behaviour works best if you relate to it as starting a new behaviour – trying to stop a behaviour (say eating fatty foods) is all about giving something up which immediately creates a lot of resistance, and all you want to do is eat fatty foods; on the other hand, starting to eat healthy food is all about moving towards a desired future.
So, if you want to start a new behaviour, at whatever time of year, there are some things you can do to increase your success rate.
1. Pick something that’s important to you. Let me say that again, pick something that’s important to you.
Often we do things because we think they’ll get us something else, or will make someone else happy or impress them, but these are in-order to goals. We do them in-order to get some other result. Never use in-order to goals. Very quickly you will find it increasingly difficult to maintain your motivation.
2. Clarify your goal. It’s very simple – the more specific and measurable your goal is, the more likely you are to attain it. If you know exactly what success looks like, and by when you intend to achieve it, it’s a lot easier to make a plan to get there.
So many behaviour change goals are vague. For instance someone might say “I’m going to lose weight” without specifying how much, or by when. So they have a very fuzzy target and will find it extremely difficult to know what to do to achieve it. On the other hand, “I am going to lose 15 kg by the 30th of April” is a clear target, which is much easier to pursue.
3. Have a plan. Often people create a goal but fail to design a clear plan. Continuing our example: “My plan for losing 15 kg by the end of April is to eat healthily, drink no alcohol on at least 3 days a week, and workout at the gym for an hour, 3 times a week.”
Each part of that plan can then be developed and made even clearer. For example you can define what healthy eating is, the types of food, the quantities, what time of day you will eat, etc. Each element can be made more specific and measurable until you are completely clear what you are going to do, and when you’re going to do it.
That way you know exactly what you have to do to win, and it will be easy for you to see whether you are on track, and any adjustments you might have to make to your actions.
With just those three basic steps the likelihood that your change effort will succeed will be boosted tremendously.
If you’re keen to maximise your results, here are 3 further enhancements to help you even more.
1. Time block your actions. Put your actions in your calendar and make sure they fit with everything else you have to do in your life. Life getting in the way is another of the major causes of failed behaviour change efforts.
2. Tell other people what you’re doing. Making a public commitment to friends and family will encourage you to keep going even when you’re struggling, and provide a powerful support network.
3. Find a buddy who wants to achieve a similar goal and work on it together. There’s loads of research that says we are far more likely to follow through on activities like going to the gym if we’ve made a commitment to meet someone else there. It’s one of those strange human being things that we’re way more reluctant to let someone else down than ourselves.
These few tips will massively increase the likelihood of achieving your goal. And remember, this is not just for New Year’s resolutions, it’s for any goal you want to achieve – work goals; work life balance; relationships; relaxation – you name it, you can achieve it using these simple steps.
Enjoy your success!