Psychology professor offers tips to keep New Year’s resolutions
Lasting behavior change is possible if one plans and sets realistic goals, according to psychology professor William Follette.
The ball is dropping in Times Square and you’re still contemplating your New Year’s Resolution. Lose weight? Give up smoking? Balance your checkbook? The choices might be easier if you believed that your success was within reach. Follette suggests that an individual is more likely to keep New Year’s resolutions when they help themselves succeed.
“Most people want to change fairly established, and often unhealthy, behaviors without developing a plan to accomplish the goal in reasonably sized steps. That might make it more difficult to keep a resolution,” Follette said. “Humans can easily succumb to short-term distractions that undermine the achievement of long-term goals.”
Follette believes that keeping your resolve is easier if you practice these five steps:
- Learn from previous resolutions. If you have tried and failed to keep previous New Year’s Resolutions, consider where your greatest vulnerabilities reside. If prior past resolutions have been too broad, set a more reasonable goal that you value.
- Make a public declaration of your resolution. Follette recommends that you share your goals with family, friends or a social support network (think Weight Watchers). Family and friends can help eliminate obstacles that might tempt you unnecessarily.
- Break down large goals into incremental steps, and celebrate when you achieve these milestones. Take a moment to acknowledge that you’ve done something important. You will be more likely to practice the same behavior again.
- Don’t let a missed goal derail your efforts. People are tempted to give up completely if they attempt a difficult change and experience initial failure. An “all or nothing” attitude is unrealistic; failure is normal. Those who succeed in implementing resolutions recognize that they will encounter challenge. They develop plans for getting back on task.
- Celebrate your successes with people who helped you along the way and examine your efforts. Reflect on what helped you achieve your milestones and goals and what factors made success more difficult. Consider opportunities to modify your plan accordingly.
Zanny Marsh, public relations director, can be reached at zmarsh@unr.edu.
