A behaviour change expert has suggested one simple way to make sure your New Year’s resolutions are more likely to succeed
An expert has urged Brits to ‘soft-launch’ their New Year’s resolutions as early as November to help boost their chances of success. Professor Benjamin Gardner, a chartered psychologist and behaviour change specialist, recommends making small habit changes between now and December to ‘test the water’, before committing fully in January.
Starting your resolutions early can help you avoid the ‘all-or-nothing mentality’ which typically trigger feelings of frustration and failure when our goals aren’t achieved immediately. The advice follows fresh research from global healthcare firm Novo Nordisk, which found 43% of adults abandon their New Year’s goals within just one month.
The main culprits include lack of motivation (41%), life getting in their way (39%), and goals being too challenging to sustain (25%). Such setbacks frequently leave people feeling disappointed and dissatisfied with themselves.
Professor Gardner said: “Many people wake up on New Year’s Day not ready to embrace change. The key is all about readiness, so anything you can do before the change of the calendar year can help habits stand the test of time.”
Feeling sluggish after the festive period can also make it difficult to maintain resolutions as people often feel under pressure to undo the impact of their eating and drinking habits all at once.
Furthermore, Professor Gardner acknowledges that the conditions surrounding the New Year are not ideal for changing behaviours.
“It’s cold and miserable, the weather isn’t great, and you’re not really energised to make the best changes,” he said. “There can be a lot of pressure to make the changes because other people are, but sometimes it has the opposite effect.
“As a result of everyone else doing it, you may end up committing to something you don’t really want to do, which is why soft-launching a resolution is a good idea as it gives you a chance to test the waters.”
In fact, Professor Gardner recommends the best approach to a ‘fresh start’ is to not wait and begin today, and it appears the majority of those surveyed agree.
More than a quarter said ‘soft launching’ their resolution made January less intimidating, and helped them feel positive before Christmas.
5 BENEFITS OF SOFT-LAUNCHING NEW HABITS AHEAD OF JANUARY:
1. Trial and error
Sometimes the changes we want to make are not realistic, or do not bring about the positive outcomes we were expecting (or bring about negative outcomes that we weren’t expecting). By trying out some small changes first, it helps us to make more informed decisions in the new year.
2. Avoid the pressure
Soft launching in November or December helps us try out ideas without feeling under pressure from other people. We may be unable to make changes in January because we experience lots of social pressure to make such changes – and when we already feel the change we’re aiming for is challenging, the extra pressure can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and leads us to cave in and give up.
3. Small steps to success
Starting small helps people to build up to bigger changes – it can also help build momentum, through positive experiences of making achievable small changes.
One of the keys to a successful behaviour change attempt is feeling confident and positive. When we feel a behaviour change attempt is failing, it can make us feel bad about ourselves, lose confidence, and feel like change is not worth it.
4. Hitting form
By soft launching before January, we can go into January with a history of success behind us, rather than starting afresh with no idea of how successful we’ll be.
5. Mental clarity
For many people, there is often more mental space available to them over the pre-Christmas wind-down period, as work stresses start to die down. Having more mental capacity can help encourage people to focus on themselves and what is important – and realistic – for them to change.
When people head back to work at the start of a new year, this can be stressful and mentally depleting (especially given the abrupt adjustment from the festive period!).
