As stated so eloquently by @UnlProblems on Twitter: “the Campus Rec: busy 4 times a year… the first week of classes, after thanksgiving, after winter break, and the week before spring break #packedhouse.”
No one can deny that many resolutions we set with such vigor on the days before the first seem to die out about two weeks after we ring in the New Year. The most common resolutions to stay fit, lose weight, eat healthy, make new friends, learn something new, and budget your money may seem like distant memories by the middle of January.
According to a 2007 study by psychologist Richard Wisemen, %88 of all resolutions end in failure. So out of the millions of Americans that pledge to break up with Ben & Jerry’s, only a tiny percentage actually manage to do so.
Why do our good intentioned ways to change our life fail so often around the New Year? Scientifically, the part of our brain that deals with willpower, the prefontal cortex, also has to solve abstract problems and operate short-term memory. When we resolve to drastically change our life one time a year, that’s simply too much for the brain to handle, and it will most likely fail.
This suggests that making too many New Year’s Resolutions, or any at all, is a bad way to go about changing your life. Our tired and stressed out brains simply won’t have the power to resist gorging ourselves on cake after a long day at work.
So how do you change your life? The biggest advice that any professional can give is simple: start small. Instead of pledging yourself to the vague concept of getting fit, start by taking the four flights of stairs to your apartment rather than the elevator. You’re more likely to see results and achieve success rather than stopping bad habits cold turkey. Try to reinforce and repeat good behavior as much as possible; this will increase your chances of changing a bad habit to a good one. While some say that it takes about three weeks to form new habits, timing is different for each person. It can take days to years to break a habit that is ingrained in our minds. While the going may get tough, it’s important to get back on the horse no matter how many times you fall off.
Making resolutions doesn’t just have to be a January 1st kind of thing. Make a promise to make a tiny change each couple of weeks: go on a bike ride instead of watching TV, think of something you’re grateful for each morning, or keep your phone off for an hour each day. Redesigning your life one step at a time could make 2013 the biggest year of transformation yet.