Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 34 seconds.
TODAY’S IDEA: Debunking Myths about New Year’s Resolutions
–From Careful: A User’s Guide to Our Injury-Prone Minds by Steve Casner
January is almost over… How are your New Year’s resolutions or goals coming along?
In his book Careful, author Steve Casner mentions John Norcross, a prominent psychologist at the University of Scranton, who conducted a study on New Year’s Resolutions. Norcross found the following: “Almost 30% of these commitments get dropped in the first week of the year. By the end of January 45% had fallen off the wagon. After 6 months, 60% had thrown in the towel, and after 2 years only 19% remained strong.”
And you’re probably wondering (I know I am!), What do we need to do to be among the 19% that remains successful after 2 years?
Casner will walk us through Norcross findings to understand what works. But before that happens, it’s important to explain what doesn’t work in order to debunk some myths and misconceptions.
Success is simply a matter of commitment. Not true. “Norcross points out that while readiness and commitment to change are an important first step, they alone are not enough to achieve long-term success for the kinds of things that typically appear in our New Year’s resolutions.”
Success is all about willpower. Not true.“[People] know about the highly disciplined types who can just utter a phrase like ‘From now on I will be more fit,” and then have six-pack abs until the day they die. And they get discouraged if they don’t feel they have that kind of willpower.”
In the study, participants who were among the 19% who kept their resolutions past the two-year mark, reported using a bit of willpower, but just at the beginning. “Once people made it past the first few months, they didn’t report willpower being a significant factor in their success.”
Wishful thinking. In here, Casner refers to deluding one’s self with wishful thinking that gets in the way of action. This, Norcross found out, “was an indicator that someone would soon be falling off the wagon.”
The opposite as well was true. Norcross found out that “negative thoughts, such as self-blame, were also hallmarks of those doomed to be among the 81%.”
So, what worked for the 19% who were successful? Stay tuned for the next post as we will see in detail what are the things that matter to the success of staying put through our resolutions and goals and making them happen.
What has worked for you so far and what hasn’t? Let me know in the comments here, please. I’d love to know!
ACTION
TODAY: Think about your New Year’s resolutions for this year. Where are you at with them? What has worked and what hasn’t? If you are in the 45% who have dropped their resolutions about now (end of January) don’t despair, you can still pick them up and make them happen.
FUTURE: As you are about to drop a resolution, think whether you are engaging in the myths or misconceptions mentioned above. It may be that you are… Commit to giving yourself a fair chance to make your resolutions happen by picking them up again. Don’t give up on you!
Know someone who would like to pick up his/her New Year’s resolutions? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, thank you!