01 Jan 2016 8 Scientifically-Proven Ways To Keep Your New Year’s Resolution
This is the time of year when we decide that 2016 will be different, a year in which we will fix what has been wrong in 2015.
In this post, I want to share with you 8 scientifically-proven techniques you can use to increase the probability that 2016 will be a better year for you, that it will be a year in which you achieve your New Year’s Resolution.
Since most of our New Year’s Resolutions involve conquering an undesired habit and adopting a new healthier one, I will focus on habits.
If you are serious about achieving your New Year’s Resolution, follow these steps:
1. Start a Change Journal. Scientists say that the probability of achieving your goal will be much higher if you write it down and if you document your day-by-day progress towards achieving it. Start a dedicated Change Journal which you will use specifically for the purpose of achieving your New Year’s Resolution.
2. Define Your Goal. Write in your Change Journal the specific goal you want to achieve. Answer the following questions:
a. What is the specific goal you want to achieve, the habit you want to conquer, and/or the new habit you want to adopt?
b. On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is the goal to you?
c. Why is it so important to you?
d. What will happen if you do not achieve this goal?
e. What will be different in your life, once you achieve your goal?
f. By when do you want to achieve your goal?
g. How will you measure your goal? For example, I want to lose 2 pounds per week for the next 10 weeks. Or, I want to complete all the items on my “Must Do List” every single day.
3. Develop a Detailed Plan. Write down a step-by-step plan that you will follow to achieve your goal. For example, I will never go food-shopping without a list. I will buy only the items on my list. I will not go food-shopping when my Willpower Level is low, in the evenings or when I am hungry or tired.
4. Identify Your Obstacles. Write down the obstacles and challenges that you may face on your journey and identify specific actions to overcome them.
5. Design Your Cues. Design cues that will prompt you to execute your desired behavior. For example, you can post a big sign on the door of your fridge saying: “Do not go food-shopping without a list”. Use technology to help with your cues. For example, use your smartphone to send you reminders to take action.
6. Avoid Your Old Cues Like A Plague. Identify the cues that prompted you to do the habit you want to overcome, and avoid them at all cost. For example, if the bottle of Bourbon on your living room server tempted you to have a drink at the end of the day, lock it away, or better still dispose of it altogether.
7. Design Powerful Rewards. At the most basic level, everything we do is driven by our desire to experience pleasure or to avoid the pain associated with our behaviors. It is therefore absolutely crucial that you identify a powerful reward to give yourself every time you do your new habit.
8. Enlist Your Accountability Partner. Scientists found that pursuing a goal with an Accountability Partner increases the probability of achieving the goal. Find a person whom you trust and respect, who has your interest at heart, and who will motivate you, and hold you accountable in following your plan. Agree to meet regularly with her/him, by phone or in person, to report your progress.
These eight steps will empower you to pursue your goal with more determination and will increase your chances of meeting it.
Learn More:
To learn more about the Nine Interventions in our Willpower Program visit our website at
www.thewilltochange.com
I also recommend the following video, aired on PBS on January 1, 2015, in which Professor Walter Mischel speaks about achieving our New Year’s Resolutions.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/want-keep-new-years-resolutions-stop-living-present-focus-future/
