With a heavy year behind us, many are looking to 2021 as a clean slate. With new beginnings come new opportunities to build healthier habits, reconcile relationships and create new year’s resolutions. If you are one of the millions of Americans who made a list of new year’s resolutions you’re not alone. Here are a few ways to stick with these promises.
1. Seek support.
Accountability is key for many people when they are working toward a goal. Often, letting down others can be enough social pressure to keep you on the right track. Try joining an online group of individuals looking to reach the same goals as you, whether that’s exercise encouragement or a professional group you can learn from.
2. Approach Goals vs Avoidance Goals.
As you work on your new year’s resolution consider what type of goal you’re looking to reach – it can spell out success or failure. A 2017 study on New Year’s resolutions found that individuals had more success with approach goals as opposed to avoidance goals. The difference is in framing: rephrase your resolution as a positive habit you’re trying to build, rather than a thing you want to stop doing. Try replacing your bad habit with a constructive behavior in its place.
3. Reminders are Key.
Have you ever made a new year’s resolution and couldn’t even remember what you told yourself you’d do once the clock struck midnight on January 1st? This is the reason for failure for so many. Life happens, and your self-improvement goals can fall on the wayside. Keep reminders to yourself on your refrigerator, mirror, your desk; anywhere you’ll see it frequently. Try writing yourself new notes when you notice the reminder becoming less impactful over time.
4. Keep Them Time Bound and Evaluate.
There is a reason businesses review their performance on a quarterly basis. Keeping goals time-bound allows you to gauge how long you have left in order to accomplish your new year’s resolution. You’ll start to notice how small actions every day build to progress over time. Reward yourself for small wins and acknowledge failure, knowing that there is always time to improve.
Dr. Barbara Edwards, a Princeton M.D. internist practices at Penn Medicine Princeton Health in the Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center and also serves as Medical Director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Community Health Center.