How to make New Years’ resolutions you might actually keep

Have you ever set New Year’s resolutions but after a few days, weeks or months, forgotten all about them or let them drop because they’re too hard to maintain? You’re not alone.

According to research by the University of Scranton, only eight per cent of people actually achieve their New Year’s goals, with 80 per cent failing to keep their New Year’s resolutions altogether.

With such depressing stats, you might be thinking about giving-up on the whole institution altogether, right? No!

Goals are really important for mental health

Research shows that people who are making progress toward or are achieving meaningful goals are happier. Whether they’re health and fitness goals, or family goals, or work goals, the key is to be making progress.

“Happy people have more self-esteem, sense of control, optimism, and a sense of purpose derived from having goals,” says Michael Argyle, author of The Psychology of Happiness.  

Setting goals you’ll keep

The first of January is only a random date in a calendar and there’s nothing that says you can’t set goals at any time of the year. But if you’re going to set New Year’s resolutions, you have to do the right thinking and planning before that day to set yourself up to succeed.

Here are some proven techniques you can implement to give yourself the best chance of succeeding…. And the best thing is that you can start this process at any time of year.

1. Commit to your goals. If you want to succeed, you must have input and take ownership for achieving your goals. Write them down and even tell a few people around you, this helps you to truly commit to your goals and leads to greater motivation.
2. Make them SMART goals. Being specific about what you want to achieve is critical. Your goals should be: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely (SMART).  If your goal is to ‘lose weight’, instead try to define what that means, maybe it’s something like “I will only eat dessert on weekends and special occasions (birthdays or public holidays). On weekdays, I will make myself a cup of herbal tea to replace my mindless TV eating.”
3. Plan for incremental change. It’s not realistic to expect to be a marathon runner overnight if your usual level of activity only involves walking to the car and back. But if you plan for incremental change, over time, who knows what might happen? Remember it’s better to do 10 minutes of exercise a couple of times per week, instead of starting with 60 minutes of exercise five times per week then quitting. Start with small incremental actions that will lead to larger change over time. Once you’ve mastered the small steps, add more complexity or challenge to give you motivation when things get boring or too easy.
4. Aim for Goldilocks goals. Your goals shouldn’t be too easy or too hard. If your goal is too easy, you can easily lose motivation and give up. If it’s too hard or complex, it can be overwhelming. A goal that’s challenging but achievable is just right to keep you motivated throughout the year.
5. Be forgiving. If your goal is to write 3,000 words per week for your new novel, but you don’t achieve your goal that week, then forgive yourself and catch that up at the end. Don’t add more work to your following week as it will only add more stress and might lead you to give up altogether.

It’s about the journey, not the outcome

Goals will help you to set a path, but remember it’s about the journey, not the outcome. Enjoy the challenge and set your mind to a task or activity, but remember to be mindful and enjoy the moments. Otherwise, you may end up setting and achieving goals and always waiting for the achievement of the goal to bring happiness, and the next one and the next one.

Remember that having goals allows you to enjoy the process and take satisfaction in daily or small accomplishments along the way, it’s not only about achieving the goal.

If you’re looking for some inspiration for goals to set next year to be happier, have a read of this article on Three Habits of Positive People, and don’t forget to share your SMART New Year’s resolutions in the comments below!

What’s coming up in 2020? 

In 2020, we’ve got a jam-packed editorial calendar of science-backed content on topics like ‘the power of being bored’ and ‘the importance of finding ‘flow.’’ There will be reviews of books and the top TedX talks in the positive psychology space, and we’ll be launching a new podcast called Happiness for Cynics!  

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