Small Steps, Big Wins: Rethinking New Year's Resolutions for Lasting Change

Resolutions are easy to make and hard to keep!  Why do we feel that it must be a new day, a new month and a new year to start something new or to reform bad habits?

By the beginning of February, 80% of resolutions will have failed. WHY? Because most resolutions are centred around deprivation and negative self-talk. Go big or go home, all or nothing, now or never thinking are also a recipe for failure. Behavioural change is not just about willpower and motivation - they don’t work and that has been proven by multiple studies.

Successful behavioural change centres around making small, consistent and achievable changes and then ensuring that we fully celebrate the win. Creating positive emotions around changes leads to better success. It may sound silly to celebrate our wins but that link to positivity leads us to want to continually recreate that winning formula. 

And because change is hard, we need to make new habits easy.

What about reframing and adding in new habits or changes instead of depriving yourself or taking away your pleasures? 

Here are a few ideas:

Wanting to increase your exercise routine?

Try doing some push ups while the kettle boils? Grab some cans and do bicep curls or some triceps dips on the kitchen chair? Walk up and down the stairs 4 or 5 times and then add in another flight each day, increasing your speed each time. Burpees can be done anywhere. Squats, lunges, side bends all beside your desk. Park further away than you normally do to increase the walk to the tube or office. Side planks when you wake or before you go to bed?

Diet a problem?
Add an avocado or some greens with your bacon or fried food. Can you add some fruit or veg to your breakfast? Add some olive oil on top of food to increase your Omega 3s. Aim to include 3 fruits, veg or spices at lunch and dinner?
Feel like fries – what about making them in the oven with olive oil and salt thereby eliminating processed oil and additives? If you’re craving something sweet, what about some dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate or biscuits?

Glued to devices?
Friends and family will always treasure you being ‘present’ rather than constantly checking your phone or computer. What about leaving it off the dinner table? Putting it away an hour before bed so that you sleep better? Going for a walk or to the gym without your phone? Remembering to look up and far away so that your eye muscles adjust to long distances instead of shorter ones while glued to screens.

Notice that none of the vocabulary includes exclude, deprive or leave out. This doesn’t need to be as hard as it seems.

Sustainable and realistic changes happen slowly and with the awareness of why we do what we do and why we need to change.

So say no to resolutions but yes to one small step towards transformation.

Written by Sue Gibson Drew