Have You Kept Your New Years Resolution?

Next week will mark the second week of February, which is a significant week in the year for many of us. And no, its not because of Hallmark’s favorite holiday next Friday. The second week of February is the week by which 80% of people will fail to keep their New Year’s resolution, according to U.S. News. Yes, that’s right - 4 in 5 of those January gym goers will be hitting snooze and skipping Pilates by February.

How is it that 80% of well intentioned goals are abandoned within 6 weeks of their start? Perhaps its due to the vagueness of many people’s resolutions. Many people resolve to “read more books” or “exercise more” without setting specific goals or parameters for their ambitions. Researchers have found that “SMART” goals are more likely to be successful; goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. In other words, goals that have a painstakingly specific plan. Still, New Year’s Resolutions don’t have a good track record overall, even among individuals who devote this kind of attention to the setting of their resolutions. Are our resolutions just doomed to fail?

A study from the University of Chicago found that the greatest predictor of individuals keeping their resolutions was whether they attained an immediate reward. Delayed gratification isn’t enough; people want to reap the benefits as soon as possible. Otherwise, they lose the motivation to keep their goals and fall off the wagon.

Perhaps the idea of a New Year’s resolution is just an inherently flawed concept. People view these hard deadlines such as the start of a new year or a birthday as the optimal start point for the goals they want to achieve, and when they fail, they wait until the next one to start again. Maybe we should be trying to encourage people to not place these limits on themselves, to view resolutions as something you can start at any time.

Timing is everything though, right? This is what we’re meant to believe. That there’s a right time for everything, that each decision we make has to be made at the perfect time. In Daniel H. Pink’s book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, he explores how timing can be important in many ways, but just as often, humans believe it to matter more than it does. I found one observation particularly interesting; researchers found that “nine enders”, those who are in the last year of a life decade such as 29, 39, 49, etc, are overrepresented among first time marathon runners by 48%. Someone who is 29 is twice as likely to run a marathon as someone who is 28 or 30. Much like those inspired to set a goal in the New Year, those who are about to move into a new decade of life find themselves driven to achieve something of significance - even though in terms of biology or physiology, there isn’t much of a difference between say, a 29 year old and a 33 year old. There’s no logical reason why an individual needs to run a marathon at age 29 versus a few years prior or later, just as there’s no rule that the start of a new year is the prime time to set a goal or try something new. These are societal pressures that have been driven to our very cores, causing us to look ahead to these landmarks to make all our life changes or decisions.

Maybe in 2020, your resolution should be to set goals whenever you like, whether that be on January 1st or March 27th or August 6th.

Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions for 2020? Have you kept them? Leave a comment down below!