Dr. Mark Wiley | Jan 08, 2014
I hope you had a happy, healthy and
loving winter holiday season as well as a great start to 2014. While the
holidays find us eating more at each meal than we do normally (and eating more
sweets and drinking more), the end of the year marks a time when we resolve to
change, to do better. On New Year’s Eve many of us make New Year’s resolutions,
wherein we set general goals for ourselves (about health or finances), while
gorging on food and spending loads of cash.
Do resolutions work?
Most Popular Resolutions
How many resolutions have you made
over the years? How many have you actually achieved?
If you’re like many Americans, you
have attempted one of these popular New Year resolutions (according to USA.gov):
- Lose weight.
- Volunteer to help others.
- Quit smoking.
- Get a better education.
- Get a better job.
- Save money.
- Get fit.
- Eat healthy food.
- Manage stress.
- Manage debt.
- Take a trip.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle.
- Drink less alcohol.
Many of these focus on being
healthier, happier and becoming a better person. In other words, they are ways
of improving quality of life.
Statisticsbrain.com posted a list of the “Top 10 New Year’s resolutions for
2014,” based on research from University of Scranton, published in the Journal
of Clinical Psychology:
1) Lose weight.
2) Getting
organized.
3) Spend less,
save more.
4) Enjoy life to
the fullest.
5) Stay fit and
healthy.
6) Learn something
exciting.
7) Quit smoking.
8) Help others to
achieve their dreams.
9) Fall in love.
10) Spend more time with family.
How Resolutions, And People, Stack
up
Here’s another list of things that
can improve your quality of life. And again, losing weight is the no. 1 item on
the list. In fact, according to the research, weight loss and self-improvement
account for 85 percent of all resolutions. Accordingly, Americans,
subjectively, are unhappy, unhealthy and overweight people who want to be
improve and have a better life. We are good-natured, but we are not good at
making lasting changes in our lives.
Here are some more telling
statistics.
- Forty-five percent of Americans “usually” make a resolution, while 17 percent “infrequently” make one and 38 percent “absolutely never” make one. However, people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.
- Thirty-nine percent of people in their 20s achieve their resolutions, while only 14 percent of people over the age of 50 achieve theirs.
- Seventy-five percent of people are able to maintain their resolution during first week. However, this drops off to 46 percent after six months.
What This Means
This is vital information that gives
us insight into why we may or may not be successful. If only 45 percent of
Americans “usually” make resolutions and if only the “explicit” ones are likely
(or more likely) to become actualized (and especially among those in their
20s), we can assume that this means 20-year-olds are “bright-eyed” when looking
to the future and their ability to control it to their benefit. But those in
middle age have lost that mental/psychological edge, due in part (I am sure) to
difficulties in life along the way.
More importantly, it tells us that
if we believe we can “resolve” to change and are “explicit” in what it is we
want to change, then we can be 10 times more likely to succeed. And we know
that once something has become habit, it is easier to keep doing that activity.
That’s why making a habit of our resolved changes can get us past the six-month
period where many have failed or begin to fail.
I would like to offer a few
solutions for applying this information in a way that will better help make
2014 a healthier year for you.
Replacing Bad Habits With Better
Habits
We all know habits are hard to
break. It takes courage, willpower and a support system that is far-reaching.
Stopping anything you do habitually — from snacking at midnight to eating fast
food for lunch and drinking too much at happy hour — is very difficult. I think
many resolutions fail because people try to stop something rather than change
it. If the bad habit is grabbing something quick to eat at midnight, or eating
fast food at lunch or drinking with friends after work, then keep it the habit,
but merely change its content. Then the habit need not be stopped, only
altered.
You see, habits are patterns that
repeat themselves again and again. These patterns set up neural connections or
pathways in our brains that, over time, allow us to exist in autopilot mode as
we go through life. The more you do something, the more that neural pathway or
connection is ingrained and made stronger. By the hundredth time, the pattern
is well-ingrained and becoming a habit. It is something we do automatically
without much thought.
Since it takes 21 to 30 days to stop
a habit, it’s better to keep the habit and change the content.
Here’s how to easily to change
content and succeed in the change.
Changing Habit Content
First, as research tells us, you
must be specific in a resolution to increase your chance of success.
Let us use weight-loss as the
example. An unspecific resolution is “I want to lose weight.” However, a more
specific resolution might be, “I want to lose an average of 4 pounds per month
by changing the content of my habits, so that I can lose enough weight to feel
better, begin exercising and, within six months, drop 2 clothing sizes.”
Second, do some habit content
changes, using the three examples from above. If you habitually snack at midnight
(or late), continue doing so, but have vegetable sticks or grapes or bananas on
hand. This way you can snack enough to satisfy the craving or habit, but the
snack will be healthier.
If your work requires you to have
fast food for lunch, you can do several things.
- Prepare healthier versions ahead of time, like an 80/20 burger with provolone cheese on an organic whole grain bun;
- Order take-out from the local deli or bistro, choosing baked or grilled items over fried or breaded ones. Rotisserie chicken is much tastier and healthier than chicken fingers;
- Find ways to better control your schedule to allow a different lunch choice.
If you are used to drinking out with
friends after work or when watching the game, maybe limit the time to three
days a week. Or cut your alcohol consumption down to one drink at a time, and
drink lemonade or iced tea for the other two drinks. This way, you keep the
habit of hanging out and drinking, but change the content of the drinks.
Other ways to keep a habit but
changing its content include:
- Eat poached or scrambled eggs instead of fried eggs.
- Park farther from the mall or restaurant than usual to increase walking.
- Stretch while watching television instead of sitting.
- Eat organic food instead of toxic conventional food.
Success is found in the details. Be
specific about your resolutions to increase your chances of success by tenfold.
Then, make content changes to existing habits to make it easier to pass to 30
day “habit-forming” time, and thus have healthier options the new habit.
Good luck in 2014!