Tips on New Year's Resolutions

By: Richard Belz, Ph.D. & Fugen Neziroglu, Ph.D., ABBP, ABPP

Now that the new year is upon us, many people use this time as an opportunity to develop New Year's Resolutions. What are resolutions? They are a firm decision to do or not do something. About 38 percent of adults will make at least one New Year's Resolution, but maintaining them can be difficult, as only 9 percent of Americans who make resolutions complete them. Research has shown 23 percent of people stop their resolutions by the end of the first week, and 43 percent stop them by the end of January. Since maintaining your resolutions can be difficult, here are some helpful tips to make them easier.

Having specific goals

Having a broad goal, like losing weight, can be a nice place to start, but can feel overwhelming. Setting specific, measurable goals, such as losing five pounds by February, can serve as a starting point that can be built upon if you so choose. As another example, say you want to read more books this year. Now you have identified a broad goal. Let’s make that more specific. You decide to pick a book and to read 30 pages in a week. You can do this for a few weeks then increase the amount of pages you read, if you so choose. While stopping after 30 pages if you are really enjoying it may seem counter-intuitive, making the activity something you look forward to continuing can further reinforce continuing the resolution. Building it into a habit will also help with consistency and follow through. One way to do this is by scheduling when to read by either writing it down or putting a reminder in your phone.

Connecting your resolutions to what you value

One way to make your resolutions easier to start or continue is to connect them to your values. If being healthy is important to you, going to the gym or eating healthier can be broad goals to start with. Then you start forming more specific goals (e.g., going to a gym twice a week, making one recipe from a health conscious website every week) that you can build upon with your values as the foundation. In times of doubt or success you can think back on these values for further encouragement. An example of this would be going to the gym and being proud of yourself, where you may have a thought like, “Health is important to me. I’m glad I went to the gym and am living that value”. Alternatively, if you are finding it hard to go to the gym that day, you can think, “Going to the gym is one way I can be healthy. Even though I don’t want to go today, I can try so I’m living my values.” If you don’t go or something else comes up, you can think, “How else can I live my value of health today?” How do you find out what you value? There are online resources such as the ACT Values Card Sort that help you organize what is important to you.

Having support

Telling a supportive friend about your resolutions can help encourage you as well. If you do not want to tell a friend about your specific resolutions, you can also ask them to send general, gentle reminders (e.g., a text saying, I know you’ve been working hard on your resolution! You got this!) as a source of social accountability. Research has shown people who set up a way to be accountable for their goals are more likely to achieve them. This can also go both ways, as you may encourage your own friends who have similar or different resolutions.

Checking in with yourself along the way: Progress over perfectionism

Taking the time to check in on your progress is also important to see if you are on track with your resolutions and achieving what you want. If you think you are not working hard or fast enough, or have a day where your goal is not worked on, it’s important to not be too hard on yourself. For example, you can have the thought, “Reading books or going to the gym is important to me, and it is okay to do it at my own pace. I do not have to feel bad about not doing this right now.” Resenting your resolutions makes them harder to achieve and can be counterproductive, potentially fueling a cycle of avoidance that makes you feel bad about yourself. You can validate the feeling - I’m upset with myself for not going to the gym today - then accept that today is not the day. Encourage yourself for the next day and troubleshoot what went wrong. Would putting the event in my calendar help? How about telling or going with a friend? Accepting things as they are and continuing to work to change is a positive mindset that demonstrates two things that initially seem opposite to each other can actually come together to create a positive mindset. This positive mindset can help you achieve your resolutions and feel good about yourself.

A final note about mental health

If you have a resolution about your mental health, you’re not alone. Since 40 percent of American adults are stressed about their mental health, it makes sense that almost 30 percent of these adults expect to make New Year’s resolutions related to mental health. The number is even higher, about 50 percent, for people aged 18 to 34. If that interests you, you can apply these tips to help make it a reality. Setting a date to call a therapist office on your calendar, getting support from a friend about making an appointment, and setting small initial goals like promising yourself to go in for a consultation, are some ways to apply these tips to help. Feel free to call us at (516) 487-7116 or by email at info@biobehavioralinstitute.com if you have any questions or are interested in working with us.