We usually fail at making New Year's resolutions stick, but here's why we should still try: U of M prof

We have a resolution problem.

It's a shame, but it's true. As the only species on Earth that bothers making New Year's resolutions at all, we are almost complete failures at carrying them out.

In fact, when the University of Bristol's Richard Wiseman surveyed a large group of resolution makers, he observed a success rate of only 12 per cent. 

Let's accept the facts, but let's not get discouraged by them. 

There is little doubt that people can generate excellent resolutions that inspire them to change. There is also no question that success in implementing our resolutions would probably result in a much healthier and happier 2019 for everyone. 

Our arbitrary assignment of the end of the year is too irresistible an opportunity to ignore, so we should do our best to harness it. 

At the same time, let's acknowledge that the new year is probably not the best time to implement major life changes. New Year's Day often signals an end to weeks of physically and emotionally draining activities. But if these jolly times and the exhilarating prospect of a fresh calendar year inspire a resolution, so be it. Just make sure you get to work on it right away.

Here now then are a few tips to guide you through it.

1. Don't get carried away

As I said, after the draining holiday activities, you may be tired and even a little head-achey for the first few days of January. That isn't a reason not to make a good resolution, but we should resolve not to make dramatic change. We should simply resolve to start the process gradually and over many weeks. We must craft our resolutions as aspects of ourselves that we wish to improve over time, not at the very moment that Ryan Seacrest declares the old year over.

2. The resolution is only the beginning

Deciding what we want to improve about ourselves is an important step, but now we need an implementation plan. If this thing's going to work, we'll need to set some incremental and realistic goals for ourselves over many weeks, even leading up to the next New Year's Eve.

So get to work with a calendar and set some modest goals that you will have some decent chance of achieving. Think carefully about the structure of your life when you're not hopped-up on punch and mistletoe. 

In other words, think more like an elf. Like you, if they are going to deliver by next Christmas, they will need to put together a manageable schedule.

3. Resolutions must incorporate your whole life

It won't be sufficient to state confidently that you will do more/less of something and plan out how much more/less you'll do of it.

First, if more of something is your goal, you must recognize that doing more of it means doing less of something else. Be ambitious, but be practical. Think about the structure of your regular lives. How will your life make room for the change that you desire? What are you able to give up to fit it in? 

Similarly, if your goal is to do less of something, it is imperative to identify the reasons that you do it in the first place. The people and places in our lives serve as cues that engage our old habits, like reflexes. If you hope to do less of some
unhealthy or destructive behaviour, you will need to think carefully about how to make changes to whatever aspects of your life encourage that behaviour.

Change is difficult and tedious work. Allowing the holidays to intoxicate you into shouting a commitment to change will rarely be enough. 

Having said that, we should do it anyway. At the very least, trying to improve ourselves will steal time away from doing the bad things (or from doing things that are bad for us). 

So let's draw some energy from those fireworks, turkey and eggnog, to fuel a public declaration about what we're going to do better next year. Then start small, take it slow, and just do it.

You go first.

This column is part of CBC's Opinion section. For more information about this section, please read this editor's blog and our FAQ.

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