The Key to Keeping to New Year's Resolutions

It’s that time of year again when many of us will be starting our new year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, one year on, the success rate for maintaining resolutions is just 12 percent. So the odds are against us! For those of us who have just started on our new resolutions – what can the psychologists contribute to this area?

According to eminent psychologist Albert Bandura, there are certain types of people who are more likely to succeed. Bandura talked about self-efficacy - one’s belief in their own capabilities. So people with high self-efficacy approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided, therefore helping them to build stronger commitment.

Richard Wiseman, a professor of psychology at Hertfordshire University, has conducted a mass experiment on 10,000 people to uncover what is the key to successful resolution keeping. He proposes five useful tips. Firstly, only make one resolution or choose one aspect of life to improve, to increase your chances of success.

Wiseman also suggests planning your resolution in advance of New Year’s Eve, as the extra time will allow you to really think through what you exactly want to achieve. Another tip is try to avoid repeating previous resolutions, or at least use a different technique. This is because your self-belief or self-efficacy in your ability to succeed will be lower. So for example if the latest diet craze did not work last year, try a different technique altogether such as planning to exercise more.

The research also indicates that any resolutions should be kept specific e.g. instead of stating you will do more running, you should plan your precise schedule of the times, dates, places, and lengths of your weekly runs. Finally, give yourself a reward for any achievements such as buying a treat if you manage to cut down on smoking or lose a few extra pounds.

However, even if you do fail then this may not necessarily be a lost cause. Richard Koestner, a researcher at McGill University who specializes in goal-setting and self-regulation, says that "even though people fail, and they feel bad, they still usually learn something."

"The key is to know that it takes people an average of six or seven attempts to be successful. If you don't keep your resolution, learn from what you did this time, and see what you can do different next time."

Best of luck with keeping to your New Year’s resolutions!


You can take part in Wisemen’s current research on new year’s resolutions by clicking the link below:

http://www.psy.herts.ac.uk/wiseman/resolutions/opening.html