New Year’s Resolutions: Are they worth it?

We’ve all been here before. 

December 31st has crept up, and suddenly it’s time to reflect on another year and decide on New Year’s resolutions. For many, the same resolution is used year after year without ever being acted upon. Whether quitting smoking, losing weight, or eating healthier- a New Year’s resolution has become synonymous with short-lived good intentions and even shorter-term change. 

So is it even worth making New Year’s resolutions?

A 2014 study shows that temporal milestones such as a birthday, new month, or new year help us draw a mental line under our previous behavior or habits, relegating them to the past. This motivates us to move forward with a “fresh start” attitude  (Dai et al., 2014). 

So if New Year’s itself is proven to psychologically motivate us to make positive change, then the problem doesn’t lie with New Year’s resolutions- it lies in making a New Year’s resolution and stopping there. 

A New Year’s resolution should be the starting point for making change, and by utilizing the “fresh start” effect, you can gain a motivational boost to begin making positive change. 

Read on for practical tips on improving your health and ensuring you aren’t making the same New Year’s resolution year after year.

Tips to ensure your resolutions are realized 

So, how can we start making New Year’s resolutions that lead to lasting, positive changes for our health? The secret lies in creating an actionable plan with SMART goals, monitoring your progress and tweaking the plan as needed, getting help to stay accountable, and most importantly- showing up not just on January 1st, but every day after that.

Utilize the New Year’s milestone

Take advantage of the initial motivational boost that comes with a milestone like New Year’s. At this time of the year, there are often discounts on gym memberships, group classes, or mental health apps that can help you take the initial leap.

Make a concrete plan

To avoid becoming another statistic of January sign-ups and February drop-outs, make a concrete plan to maintain your motivation, building on the initial boost at New Year’s. What milestones do you want to reach that will show you are progressing toward your goals? 

Choose approach-oriented goals

That’s right, we’re telling you to avoid avoidance. Choosing an approach-oriented goal over an avoidance-oriented goal, i.e.choosing to do something rather than avoid doing something, has been shown to result in more successful New Year’s resolutions (Oscarsson et al., 2019). 

Celebrate wins along the way

Setting rewards to reinforce positive changes has been shown to improve the likelihood of success in sticking to a New Year’s resolution (Norcross and Vangarelli, 1988), so consider this your permission to build in celebrations for reaching milestones along your health journey in the new year!

Build a support network

Finally, having relationships with people who support your goals can help hold you accountable with your resolution. Find people in your life who could fulfill this role for you, maybe even swap resolutions to hold each other accountable throughout the year- not just in January!

Using resolutions to improve your health

So if the New Year gives us a psychological boost to take advantage of, what sorts of resolutions might we consider to improve our health?

A 2018 Marist poll found that “exercise more” was the single most common New Year’s resolution across their respondents, and “eat healthier” and “lose weight” were beaten out only by “stop smoking,” putting health-related resolutions as by far the most common category. While these are all admirable resolutions, the key step is setting concrete goals to ensure you will achieve this resolution. 

Clearly, most of us want to improve our health in some areas, and a great way to do this is through approach-oriented goals. This way, you can work towards something positive rather than trying to move away from something negative.

An example could be if your New Year’s resolution is to “lose weight,” rather than set a goal of avoiding sugar, set a goal to include more protein. Similarly, if your resolution is to “get fit,” set a goal to be able to lift a certain weight rather than to avoid crashing on the couch after work. 

New year, new you? 

As another year begins, we hope you will let the new year be a year of intentionally setting in place the environment you need to succeed in your health goals. By focusing on building a support network, setting approach-oriented goals, and celebrating small milestones along the way, you’ll be able to keep the wind in your sails long after this year and beyond. So when setting your New Year’s resolutions this year, remember that the New Year can give you the initial psychological boost you have been waiting for, but the rest is up to you.