14 Psychology Tips to Help You Reach Your New Year’s Resolutions

Many people start the new year with the best of intentions as they set New Year’s Resolutions. Setting New Year’s Resolutions can be a meaningful tradition. They represent a commitment to becoming better versions of ourselves. You are not alone though if you find yourself having trouble getting going on New Year’s Resolutions or sticking with them once (if) started.

We know that weight loss goals are the most common New Year’s Resolution and that fitness clubs are jam packed in January going into February. We also know that the crowds at the gyms start to thin out and return to normal by March. This is just one example of how we start off full steam with New Year’s Resolutions only to abandon them all together.  

This cyclical pattern is really not surprising though. Change in general, and certainly self-improvement, can be hard. That’s why I want to provide you with as many tips as possible to help with forward movement towards your New Year’s Resolutions.

Keep reading for 14 tips informed by psychological research to help you make progress on your New Year’s Resolutions

For some people, giving up on New Year’s Resolutions all together, can be a source of shame. There is also the potential of feeling even worse about the situation we were trying to change than when we started.

There is nothing that says we have to make New Year’s Resolutions, but if you are looking to make change this time of year, then it is helpful to have a game plan. The 14 tips that follow are informed from psychological research and provided here to help you stay motivated and make progress on your New Year’s Resolutions.

Here is an important caution before diving into the tips. Keep in mind that not every strategy works for every person. Similarly, a strategy that may have been effective for one person at one time, may be ineffective for that very same person at a different point in time. Humans are quite complex and we all have our own unique way of interacting with the world, an environment that is also ever changing.

Taking these considerations into account, let’s get started!

14 tips based on psychological research for making progress on New Year’s Resolutions  

1.      Start with how you set them

The first tip is so important that I dedicated an entire blog post to this topic. If you have not yet written your New Year’s Resolutions, then it might be helpful to review the entire post here, New Year’s Resolutions Wins: To Get Them, Start with How You Set Them.

Here are some of the key takeaway points on the importance of setting New Year’s Resolutions with intention. We want to make sure that we set New Year’s Resolutions that are in alignment with our values. This is because values guide the choices we make in life. As such, we are more likely to achieve our goals when they are in alignment with what we value in life. You will see the theme of values pop up throughout these tips.

To set New Year’s Resolutions that prime us for greater success of achieving them, we want to write SMART goals. That is, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. We want to be specific and clear in how we word our New Year’s Resolutions. In order to know how you are doing on your New Year’s Resolutions, you need to have a way of measuring progress on these goals. When setting New Year’s Resolutions, we need to make sure we can reasonably attain these new goals. Our New Year’s Resolutions are considered relevant when they align with our life values. Last, we want to define timelines for completing New Year’s Resolutions (time-based).

2.      Put them in writing

If you have not done so already, consider literally writing down your New Year’s Resolutions as opposed to just thinking about them. Writing them down can serve as a visual cue and reminder about the personal change you have committed to making. Visual reminders can help us stay motivated with the steps needed for the change we want to make.  

3.      Start when ready

There is nothing magical about January 1st when it comes to starting work on new personal goals. If you are not ready to start working on New Year’s Resolutions the very first week of January, then that is totally okay. Certain dates can serve as a natural time for a reset though. Think of how many times you promised to start something like a new diet on a Monday. The first of the month and birthdays can also function as times when we are particularly inspired to work on self-improvement goals. The meaning of these types of dates varies from one person to the next. If you do not feel motivated to start work on behavior change on a specific date like January 1st, then be flexible with yourself and start when you are ready.  

Now, I know there is a fun and inspirational sound bite floating around the internet right now about starting before you are ready. There are indeed times when we should start before we perceive that we are ready to begin. This dynamic is especially true when it comes to perfectionistic standards that may delay the start of something important to us. In these situations, it can be helpful to have push to finally just do the thing.

When it comes to long lasting change though, starting when you are truly ready can be a more helpful approach. We do not have to force change before feeling ready for the sole purpose of syncing up with a specified date on the calendar. Also, at times of heightened stress or anxiety, it is understandable that committing to a significant behavior change could be overwhelming. So, be flexible and compassionate with yourself about when you start your New Year’s Resolution.  

4.      Social support

Teaming up with friends or family members working on a same or similar New Year’s Resolution can be a beneficial approach. Receiving support from others can help motivate us to engage in new behaviors. Also, encouragement from people who may be experiencing some of the same struggles on the journey of change let’s us know we are not going through it alone. Keep reading for additional ways that involving others with our New Year’s Resolutions can help us with forward movement towards the change we seek. 

5.      Accountability

Another way that social support helps with making progress on our New Year’s Resolutions is through accountability. Knowing that someone else is counting on us can be quite motivating. Consider pairing up with an accountability partner on activities relevant to your New Year’s Resolutions.

6.      Friendly competition

Research has shown that in addition to the encouragement and accountability factors involved with social support, people who engage in a little friendly competition can improve progress on their goals. A way of incorporating this strategy is to share progress with each other in a public way. If the SMART goal method was followed, then however you are measuring progress on your New Year’s Resolutions is what you can share. A Facebook group or a spreadsheet on a shared drive is a wonderful way to share progress in a public way.

7.      Internal motivation is better than external motivation

While social support, accountability, and friendly competition can play a role in motivating us to stay on track with our New Year’s Resolutions research has shown that we are even more likely to achieve our goals when the motivation comes from within. In other words, being internally motivated for our New Year’s Resolutions is a more reliable indicator of success with our goals than being externally motivated.

One reason for this is because external motivation factors can change. Drawing on the previous tip of accountability, we may feel compelled to follow through with certain tasks related to our New Year’s Resolutions because other people are counting us. This external factor can change at anytime though. Take for example an accountability partner who loses her motivation. That external motivation piece is now no longer a part of the equation. Your internal motivation remains constant though and you have control over that piece. No one else.  

Just because internal motivation is a more reliable indicator of success with our goals than external motivation, that does not mean we should not incorporate some external factors, too. What is important is to not rely exclusively on external motivation.

8.      Replacement behaviors

If your New Year’s Resolutions involve cessation of some sort, that is stopping a particular behavior, it is helpful to consider what healthier sorts of behavior could you engage in instead. If we do not have something to replace the old behavior, then we run the risk of it feeling like we are white knuckling it while driving through a Florida summer afternoon thunderstorm.

Continuing with our common weight loss themed resolutions, consider the cessation goal of no longer eating candy. If one was used to having a sweet treat after dinner, then it may be helpful to have a replacement behavior of having fruit instead of candy.  

9.      Make it easier on yourself

Another way to set yourself up for success with your New Year’s Resolutions is by making it easier on yourself. We can do this by reducing the amounts of steps needed to get to the behaviors you are trying to increase. For example, if your goal involves morning workouts, consider laying out your active wear the night before so it is ready for you in the morning. Here we are drawing on the concept of friction. We want to reduce friction for behaviors we want to increase.

10.   Make it harder on yourself

The next tip is the exact opposite. In this case, you want to make it harder on yourself by placing more steps between you and the behaviors you are trying to decrease. We want to increase friction for behaviors we want to decrease.

For example, if avoiding junk food is part of your New Year’s Resolutions, then keeping unhealthy foods out of the house may be the way to go. In order to have potato chips or a chocolate bar when there are none in the house will put extra steps between you and the behavior of eating junk food. Instead of just walking to kitchen it is a trip to the store. Even a delivery order will add more steps plus the passage of time while it is being delivered can be enough of a delay to allow us to reconsider straying from our New Year’s Resolutions.

11.   Pair with something enjoyable

If your New Year’s Resolution involves doing more of something you are really not that fond of, then pairing that less than desirable activity with something enjoyable can make it more bearable. This, in turn, increases the likelihood of engaging in the behavior you are trying to increase. Listening to one’s favorite playlist or podcast is an enjoyable activity than many people pair with exercising.

12.   Regularly measure and track progress on your goals

If you made SMART goals, then you will have a New Year’s Resolution that can be measured and tracked. The very act of monitoring a behavior we are trying to change is related to an increase or decrease in the behavior of interest. For some people, bringing one’s attention to the behavior they are trying to change through tracking and measuring can help them make progress on that goal.

13.   Get back on track

It is quite common to fluctuate with progress on New Year’s Resolutions. We may be doing great for a week or so and then have a slip with our progress. How we handle these slips is crucial. These are the decision points when many people get discouraged and give up all together. You cannot go back and change the decisions related to straying from your New Year’s Resolutions, but you can make decisions moving forward that get you back on track with your goals for the new year. Try to pick up where you left off. Pivot and proceed.   

14.   Reinforce your progress

We are much more likely to make lasting behavior change if we reward our progress as opposed to punishing our slips. Having a plan to celebrate the small wins along the way makes us more likely to keep up the positive change.

You got this!

Remember, your mileage may vary with these tips. If one approach is not helpful, consider trying other tips that might be a better fit for you. Try not to get discouraged if you have a few slips along the way. Self-improvement is a process. Each small step you take gets you closer to the change you wanted to see when setting your New Year’s Resolutions.

Dr. Jennifer McManus is a licensed psychologist who helps people with forward movement towards their life goals at the new year and all year long. If you think you may benefit from personalized and professional help with obstacles in the way of achieving your goals, please feel free to contact the psychotherapy practice of Dr. Jennifer McManus to learn more about available support. You can schedule a free consultation, email, or call the office at 866-706-3665.