It’s a new year but will it be a new me?

The start of a new year often brings with it a strong motivation to make the changes we’ve been wanting to make - to better ourselves in one way or another. This “new year, new me” attitude is usually accompanied with the setting of new year’s resolutions. Things like exercising more, eating less sugar, reading more books, you name it. Interestingly, this phenomenon isn’t just in our heads, it is known as the “fresh start effect” which can be described as when the new year acts as a temporal landmark that inspires people to make an effective change (1). But do they work? How often do these resolutions stick?

In an attempt to answer that very question, a recent study by Oscarsson and colleagues (2) looked at the success rates of sticking to new year’s resolutions in just over 1000 people. They found that only 55% of the participants were able to maintain their new year’s resolutions (2). Interestingly, the authors found that those who were goal orientated were more successful in sticking to their resolutions (2). There are many reasons as to why people find it difficult to succeed in their resolutions. For example, setting goals that are too vague and too difficult to achieve. This brings us to our next point: are there ways to be more successful in sticking to our new year’s resolutions?  

If you haven’t picked up the hints, the answer to that question is… yes it seems like it! As mentioned in the study by Oscarsson and colleagues (2), resolutions that focus on achieving a goal rather than avoiding something tend to be more successful. Other researchers have suggested that focusing on the “why” we want to achieve our resolutions rather than the “what” may help resolution success rates(1). Going further, here are a few practical tips that have been suggested by researchers to successfully achieve our resolutions this year:

1. Set SMART long-term and short-term goals (3): These goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time based (SMART). For example, instead of saying you want to lose weight, say you want to lose 5kg in 5 – 10 weeks as a long-term goal. This can be broken down into weekly short-term goals of 0.5 – 1kg per week.
2. Start small (1): if your goals are to exercise more, start by setting a weekly goal of what you can realistically achieve. For example, start by walking for 30 minutes, three times a week. Once you have built up some endurance you could slowly increase the time or number of days you are walking or progress to jogging. This approach is probably less daunting that signing up to 7 days a week of intense exercise classes.
3. Create a positive emotional connection with achieving your goals (4): your resolutions should be something positive that makes you feel good. Exercise, for example, should be something you enjoy and look forward too, and should not be an unpleasant task that you dread or see as punishment. A good way to create a positive emotional relationship with exercise is to start a journal, where you write down how you feel before and directly after you exercise. This allows you to look back and see how you felt over the previous sessions to create excitement for the up-coming sessions.
4. Allow for days off: Follow the “80 – 20 rule”. No one is 100% perfect 100% of the time, so rather allow yourself 20% where you are not too strict. For example, with regards to food, three meals a day equates to 21 meals a week. Following the “80 – 20 rule” allows 3 of those 21 meals to be whatever you want. This creates a space for healthy flexibility whilst maintaining a healthy balance 80% of the time (5).
5. Make it fun: your resolutions should be as enjoyable as possible. If your resolution is to exercise more, do exercise you actually enjoy! Try out a few different things until you find something that you like and are willing to commit to.
6. Get support: having support from a friend has been shown to make resolutions more successful (2). Having someone doing the journey with you or checking in on your progress can help you to keep at it.

We hope these tips were helpful and that they can add to your motivation to make your “new year, new me” plans stick!

To bring you the most evidence-based and cutting information in the fields of sports and exercise science and health, SSISA works alongside the UCT Research Centre for Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Sport (HPALS) to disseminate the latest research.  HPALS research focuses on optimizing human performance and promoting health and well-being through physical activity, sports participation, healthy eating and good sleep hygiene.  Their work begins at the DNA, to the human performance laboratory and ultimately to the community. To read more about the Health through Physical Activity, Lifestyle and Research Centre, Division of Physiological Sciences at the University of Cape Town, please see the HPALS website or email Ayesha Hendricks for more information about applications for MSc/PhD research programmes.

To get in touch with the Sports Science Institute of South Africa Group for Research Implementation and Translation (GRIT) Research Consultants, get in touch with Warren Lucas at research@ssisa.com or call 021 650 5728 for enquiries. Read more about the SSISA GRIT Team here.

References:

1. Dai H, Milkman KL, Riis J. The fresh start effect: Temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior. Manage Sci. 2014 Oct 1;60(10):2563–82.
2. Oscarsson M, Carlbring P, Andersson G, Rozental A. A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. PLoS One. 2020 Dec 1;15(12 December).
3. Kimbrough C. Be Smart About Making Your Resolutions Stick [Internet]. Available from: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismfacpub/26
4. Fredrickson BL. Positive Emotions Broaden and Build. In: Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Academic Press Inc.; 2013. p. 1–53.
5. Kerry Torrens. What is the 80/20 rule diet?