Have your New Year’s resolutions already failed? Here are tips to get back on track

Kentucky Health News

Many people ring in the new year with good intentions, striving to make it better than the previous year — until they give up on their goals.

Many New Year’s resolutions involve ways to improve health. But only about 10% of those who make a New Year’s resolution achieve their goals each year, according to a University of Delaware news release.

“Research shows that we all tend to break our long-term goals or slip up under certain circumstances,” said Naomi Sadeh, associate professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Delaware. “So if you’ve had a really stressful day or you’re very tired — those sorts of environmental situations can make it more likely that we’ll do something impulsive, like break our diet, for instance.”

The lack of success with those resolutions isn’t for lack of trying, but because humans are wired to prioritize instant gratification over delayed reward, so making long-term changes is hard, according to the release.

The need for instant gratification while struggling to form new habits, along with the importance of staying motivated and having social support, are key elements that a lot of people don’t think about before making a new goal.

But all is not lost, according to experts from the university, who offer suggestions for how to get back on track to reach the goals you set in January.

For example, Philip Gable, a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Science, said it might be better to make a resolution later in the year when it is more meaningful, like if you get a doctor’s report that calls for a change to be healthier.

Another reason for failure is that many resolutions are formed with big goals in mind. Gable said to be part of the 10% of people who are successful in keeping their resolutions, it’s best to break down big goals into small, achievable steps.

“If we have too big of a goal, we get emotionally distressed when we can’t do it, or we fail because we set too big of a goal. Or maybe we couldn’t think through all of the elements required to meet that really big goal. So starting small gives us something achievable, and then that gives you a platform to go to the next thing,” he said.

Rob West, interim chair and professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, said repetition is key to forming new habits.

“You don’t roll out of bed and say, ‘I’m going to have a new habit today.’ That’s not the set of cognitive mechanisms by which we develop habits. They are acquired over time through repetition,” West said.

Sadeh said it’s important to rally social support to be successful, noting that a person is more likely to repeat a new behavior if it is positively reinforced.

In addition, he said it’s important to be committed to planning — such as making healthy meals ahead of time for the nights when it’s inconvenient to cook.

And, he said it’s important to know that there will be times that no matter how many positive steps you’ve taken, you will slip up.

“It’s hard to create new habits,” Sadeh said. “It happens every year — we all have good intentions and then life gets in the way. So it’s important to be kind to yourself when you make mistakes or have lapses in your plans. If you just go down the rabbit hole of feeling guilt and shame, that’s not going to help in terms of your long-term goals. Just expect that there will be lapses and accept that and be kind to yourself in those situations.”