If you’re like many people, you’ve made your New Year’s resolutions and you’re loaded with optimism and good intentions for 2024.
As the calendar turns from one year to the next, millions of people routinely resolve to reinvent themselves in the collective ritual of listing all the ways to be better, more productive, slimmer, healthier or happier.
Or maybe you’ve never bought into the idea of making resolutions. After all, by some estimates, as many as 80% of resolutions fail.
New Year’s resolutions can be tough to maintain, but many people are successful in meeting their commitments. Science has identified some important ways to assist people in managing their choices and maintaining their goals.
Psychologists who study self-control agree that the worst approach to take when trying to resist temptation or create new habits is something called “response modulation,” which is just white-knuckling your urges and relying on old-fashioned willpower.
Instead, researchers recommend a “situation change” as a more successful strategy for exerting self-control. A review of 102 studies suggests that people should avoid exposure to tempting situations instead of trying to use willpower to manage their behaviors.
A separate study by the University of York demonstrated that human self-control was a characteristic that developed in conjunction with the use of tools. Researchers found that successful planning is both about managing your behaviors as well as using the resources involved in prioritization and time management. This means that simple strategies like taking an incremental approach to meeting objectives, tracking progress toward goals and using a calendar to plan forward might increase the overall odds of adhering to resolutions.
Technology has created newer tools to help generate lasting behavioral changes. There are plenty of apps out there designed to help stop bad habits and foster better behaviors.
Habitica is an app that aims to gamify your goals. Users choose a retro-style avatar whose livelihood is determined by progress toward objectives customized by the user. There are chat features and tailored to-do lists to help further foster success.
Designed by behavioral economists from Yale University, stickK allows you to set goals, create a “commitment contract” and even apply a monetary incentive. Users can pledge funds to friends, charitable organizations or even “anti-charities,” which are organizations the user opposes and will receive funds should the user not make progress toward goals. The app makes it easy to connect with others to maintain accountability.
A website called Fitness Blender can help those looking to set fitness or weight loss goals. This free website offers thousands of fitness videos that you can easily sort by body focus, duration, difficulty, equipment and more. There’s also an online Fitness Blender community where you can post about your goals, ask questions, share tips and connect with others.
For those who are looking to do a better job of managing personal finances, YNAB (You Need A Budget) can help make it easier to track spending and set targets. The site also features a toolkit to help prevent overspending and to encourage savings.
Of course, in-person tools are useful, as well. You’ve heard the advice to tell someone else about your commitment to have them support you and also hold you accountable for achieving it, but new research suggests another layer to this advice.
According to research from the University of Georgia, self-control is contagious. The people who you surround yourself with will influence your behaviors. The study suggests that teaming up with a colleague to learn a new skill or partnering with a friend to take up a new hobby improves your odds of seeing it through.
If you have a method that works to maintain your commitments, stick with it. Also, consider new approaches that may make you even stronger and more rigorous in the choices you make.
