{"id":54929,"date":"2016-12-27T07:15:59","date_gmt":"2016-12-27T12:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=54929"},"modified":"2021-11-18T10:56:35","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T15:56:35","slug":"new-years-resolutions-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/new-years-resolutions-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Science-Backed Tips to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Science-Backed
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a holiday tradition to make a list of all the goals<\/a> you want to accomplish in the New Year: Lose weight. Mediate more. Eat more chia seeds. But it\u2019s almost become a national pastime to diss our collective aspirations. Your sister snidely remarks, \u201cYou\u2019re<\/em> going to train for a half-marathon \u2014 seriously?\u201d Or you see these reminders<\/a> that 88 percent of resolutions fail.<\/p>\n

But get ready to prove them wrong. It turns out there are skills you can learn to set yourself up for success. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about resisting temptation<\/a> through willpower alone,\u201d says University of Scranton Psychologist John Norcross, who\u2019s followed hundreds of resolution-makers over the past two decades. (His most famous study<\/a> was published in 2002 in the Journal of Clinical Psychology<\/em>.) \u201cA lot of people don\u2019t understand that it\u2019s a process that occurs in baby steps. It would be like trying to develop a new skill with no effective training, like playing the violin or tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Your Willpower Is a Muscle: Here\u2019s How to Train It<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s magical thinking that you\u2019ll be reborn on January 1st<\/sup> and will just figure it out.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His research found that 40 percent of people who make resolutions succeeded in achieving their goals. By contrast, only four percent of people who wanted to change a behavior \u2014 but didn\u2019t declare their intentions in the form of a resolution \u2014 saw any results.<\/p>\n

One important caveat: The winners didn\u2019t try to wing it starting New Year\u2019s Day. \u201cThat\u2019s magical thinking that you\u2019ll be reborn on January 1st<\/sup> and will just figure it out,\u201d says Norcross, author of Changeology: 5 Steps for Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions<\/a><\/em>. \u201cYou need realistic self-confidence. You also need a plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Check out these expert tips on how to crush you goals.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Top 5 Fitness Goals, and How to Actually Achieve Them<\/a><\/p>\n

Science-Backed Tips to Make New Year\u2019s Resolutions Stick<\/h2>\n

1. Lay the groundwork.<\/h3>\n

You\u2019ve identified what you want to change in your life and what you have to do to accomplish it. (You want to lose weight. You look up delicious Daily Burn recipes<\/a>. You make a meal plan<\/a>. You go to the grocery store.) There\u2019s more you can do to pave the way. \u201cChange your environment to work for you and not against you,\u201d says Norcross. Throw out the junk food in the house. Organize your spice cabinet to make cooking easier. Also, practice your new behaviors in advance. Have you scouted out the jogging paths in your neighborhood? Or studied the online menus of your favorite restaurants so you can make healthy choices? The time is now.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong> Printable Meal Planning Templates to Simplify Your Life<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Break your goal into small, concrete chunks.<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s tempting to declare you\u2019re going to lose 30 pounds or make vague intentions to \u201cget fit.\u201d But getting more specific is key, says Mical Kay Shilts, Ph.D., professor of nutrition and foods at California State University in Sacramento who studies how patients set diet and exercise goals. \u201cWith large long-term goals, we can get overwhelmed and easily discouraged. They need to be attainable enough so you know can achieve it if you put in the effort,\u201d she says. Make weekly goals, such as \u201cI\u2019m going to walk for 30 minutes three times this week\u201d or \u201cI want to lose a pound this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccessful people slip up as much as unsuccessful people, but they realize it\u2019s a slip and don\u2019t give up.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. Monitor your progress.<\/h3>\n

Instead of measuring the outcome, track the healthy behaviors that help you achieve it. \u201cIf you\u2019re working on your weight, [that means] you\u2019re not just recording the pounds,\u201d says Norcross. \u201cIt\u2019s how often you exercise or eat fresh fruits and vegetables.\u201d Logging those good-for-you deeds will also mean you\u2019re reinforcing \u2014 and applauding \u2014 good habits. You\u2019ll also be able to look back and see how far you\u2019ve come. Progress, FTW.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>12 Things Nobody Told Me About Losing Weight<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Recruit a cheerleader.<\/h3>\n

You don\u2019t have to chronicle your journey on Facebook. But it\u2019s helpful to share your goals \u2014 and brag about your milestones \u2014 with a supportive friend. \u201cYou create a kind of accountability because you don\u2019t want to tell them that you didn\u2019t do it,\u201d explains Shilts. \u201cIt\u2019s also nice to get a pat on the back because that keeps us going.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Enlist a task-master.<\/h3>\n

This is different from prompting your Instagram buds to send you feel-good \u201cAmazing!\u201d comments. Norcross suggests making an actual contract with someone who will commit to helping you stay on track. For example, in this sample<\/a>, you agree to accomplish goals<\/a> by a certain date. If you meet them, you get the listed rewards, such as a dinner out or a foot rub. If you don\u2019t, you accept your specified punishment, such as donating to your favorite charity. Check out the app Gym-Pact<\/a>, which creates \u201ccash stakes\u201d in a group money pool as an incentive to meet your goals.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>10 Simple Strategies for Sticking to Your Goals<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

6. Enjoy instant gratification.<\/h3>\n

The challenge of sticking to resolutions is that the payoff often seems far away. Researchers from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business found that those who can identify the immediate rewards have a better chance of keeping up the behaviors that will get them there.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople can ask themselves what activities they can choose that will make pursuing the long-term goal more enjoyable,\u201d suggests Kaitlin Woolley, Ph.D. candidate in behavioral science and lead author of the study<\/a> that was published in November in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin<\/em>. She suggests listening to music while exercising or focusing on the post-workout endorphin high (rather than the bigger goal of \u201cbetter health\u201d).<\/p>\n

7. Anticipate the rough patches.<\/h3>\n

Even if you hit the ground running on New Year\u2019s Day, your quest will get noticeably harder by late January. \u201cWe can do anything for a while, but creating a new behavior is a lot of work,\u201d says Norcross, explaining that successful people benefitted the most from social support a couple weeks after starting their plan.<\/p>\n

They also recovered quickly when they strayed. \u201cSuccessful people slip up as much as unsuccessful people, but they realize it\u2019s a slip and don\u2019t give up,\u201d says Norcross. In fact, 71 percent of people in his research said their first slip-up<\/a> forced them to re-commit to their goals.<\/p>\n

It takes about three months on average to change a habit. \u201cIf you\u2019re ready, the beginning of the year is a wonderful opportunity to improve yourself,\u201d says Norcross. \u201cRemember to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all have big dreams of improving ourselves come January 1st. Here\u2019s how to get a winning strategy and actually make those resolutions happen. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":54950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,11,18],"tags":[104,103,341,352,285],"class_list":["post-54929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-health-hacks","category-weight-loss","tag-goals","tag-motivation","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2weight-loss","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}