How To Actually Keep Your Resolutions This Year

Here we are again: the beginning of another year. It's easy to get caught up in all the excitement about healthy changes and resolutions, and no doubt you're feeling like you can take on the world right now. The thing is--and we all know this from experience--making resolutions is the easy part. The hard part comes 15 or so days down the road when your weight loss goal doesn't sound nearly as exciting as those free cupcakes at work. But don't worry--I've got a few tips that can help you stick with your plans for 2018. Turns out all that training in human behavior is good for something after all.

1. Set realistic goals. Here's the deal--you have to be honest with yourself. Are you really, really going to go from total couch potato to working out an hour, twice a day, every day--all at once? Are you going to go from drinking three XL fountain sodas a day to zero, and sustain it for a whole year? Are you actually going to stick to a budget that only allows you $20 spending cash for a whole month?

If you are, you're a superhuman, and teach me your ways.

The thing is, change is hard, and we can handle huge changes if we have high levels of motivation (like, during the excitement of a new year, for example), but we can't sustain them once our motivation decreases. The more extreme changes your goals require, the less likely they are to succeed long-term.

But what do you do if your end game is a pretty significant deviation from business-as-usual, and you don't want to step it back? There are a couple things you can do:

• +   Make the big change short term: This is the mindset of programs like Whole 30--you can  do anything for 30 days. There is some truth to that, especially if you set up a big payoff for yourself at the end, but we'll talk more about that later. The takeaway here is big change/small time frame.
• +   Start small and build in stages: If you're wanting to commit to an actual lifestyle change, this might be the way to go. Write down where you are now, and where you want to be by the end of the year, and then create a month-by-month breakdown that helps you achieve your goal in more manageable steps.

2. Make it about behavior. "Lose 30 pounds." "Make all A's next semester." We've all had these kinds of goals, before, right? The problem is that they're just outcomes; they don't tell you what you need to do to achieve them--and to some extent, they may be influenced by factors outside of your control. For example, there are a lot of ways to go about losing weight--you can cut calories, change your diet to focus on different foods, try a specialized diet, join a support group like Weight Watchers, start an exercise regimen, etc. The latter are the things that you should write your goal around, because those are specific things you can do, measure, and hold yourself accountable for.

3. Stagger your start dates. If you're anything like me, you have about 20 different goals for this year, and you’re all fired up to start them all at once.

DON’T.

Remember what I said about trying to change too fast? That doesn’t just apply to single goals—the cumulative effect of small changes in multiple areas can also sabotage your chances of success. An easy way to avoid this is to stagger your start dates.

Say, for example, you followed my advice about making your goals behaviorally based and you changed your “lose 30 pounds” goal into “complete a Whole 30” and “exercise for an hour 3x a week.” Don’t do that all in January. Start Whole 30 in January, and don’t exercise (or don’t change your current exercise routine, if you have one) until 2-4 weeks later. An example January schedule might look like:

Jan 1^st -7^th : Whole 30

Jan 8^th-14^th: Whole 30

Jan 15^th-21^st: Whole 30 and exercise 20 mins/1x week

Jan 22^nd-28^th: Whole 30 and exercise 30 mins/1x week

January 29^th-Feb 4^th: Finish Whole 30 (and continue healthy eating); exercise 30 mins/2x week

(This is just an example; if you’re changing your diet or starting an exercise regimen, talk to your doctor first—your schedule might look vastly different!)

Bottom line: don’t try to change your entire life in one swoop.

4. Change your in-the-moment effort. Here’s the basic idea: make it easier for yourself to engage in goal behaviors, and make it harder for yourself to engage in goal-sabotaging behaviors. If your goal is healthier eating, clear out your pantry--toss (or donate) all the junk and make sure that you always have healthy options on hand. If you have to go out in the cold and drive a couple miles to the grocery store in order to buy a bag of chips, you might decide it just isn't worth it--and even if you do, it gives you a couple of miles worth of time to change your mind. If your goal is to spend less, leave the cards at home and only take cash in the amount you can spend. If you see something you just have to have, fine, but you'll have to exert extra effort to get it: going all the way home and back for your cards. If your goal is to hit the gym more, keep a set of gym clothes in your car so you can go on the way to or from work; I know for me, once I get home at the end of a workday, the likelihood of me heading back out--especially to exercise--is pretty low. Make it easy for yourself to do the things that will help you keep on track with your goals. 

5. Track your progress. Why are you doing all of this if you aren’t keeping track of it? Tracking your progress not only helps you get closer to your goals by holding you accountable, but seeing your progress can actually keep you motivated to stay on course. If your goal is a big one, setting milestones can be even more powerful. Yes, I’m a data geek, so I’m a little biased here, but it works. And it doesn’t have to be complicated—jot your workout schedule down in your planner, and every time you go to the gym as scheduled, check it off. And then use that data to adjust your goals accordingly or......

6. Reward yourself (or better yet, have someone else do it for you). Decades of research has detailed the power of reinforcement on changing behavior. Reinforcement is most effective when it is (1) immediate, (2) proportional, and (3) contingent. What that means is that (1) you should reward yourself as soon as you hit your goal or goal milestone, (2) the harder the goal, the bigger the reward should be--don't just give yourself a mini-Snickers for 6 months of healthy eating!, and (3) you can't cheat and give yourself the reward if you don't meet your goal. The hard thing about rewarding ourselves is that, as adults, it's easy for us to cheat on that last part.  If you promise yourself a new dress after sticking to your workout regimen for a month, and then you only make it two weeks, you can always buy it anyway. If your willpower is low, sometimes you need to enlist help. Go ahead and buy that dress, but have your best friend or significant other hold it hostage until you show them that you've met your milestone.

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These are some general, evidence-based strategies that are universal when it comes to behavior change. Not every person will need every single tip, but believe me when I say that they will all definitely make it easier to stay on track this year. Here's to a successful 2018--however that looks for you!