5 Steps to Make New Year's Resolutions Work as Expected

We have a few days left, we are in 2021. What is unique about welcoming the new year is, of course, resolutions! Hey, to what are do you going in 2022?

Well, for those of you who are starting to make new year's resolutions, try following some of the steps suggested by psychologist Joel Minden as reported by Psychology Today .

Find a really obvious reason

Maybe many of us set resolutions such as diligently exercising every week, diligently cleaning the room, and similar targets. Unfortunately, targets like this are prone to traffic jams in the middle of the road because we don't have a clear reason to keep doing it.

So, so that the targets we make remain persuasive, try to write clear reasons that encourage us to keep doing it. For example, if we are diligent in exercising, we can have better sleep quality or can be closer to friends who like sports too. Find a clear and personal reason for the target to feel important.

Specific!

If the target sound is just like being able to have “more friends”, “more productive”, or other sentences that are not very specific—the more likely we not will achieve it. For example, if you want to expand your friendship, you can write your resolution to be “attending a support group every week”, “attending a debate club meeting every Thursday”, or something else.

Set realistic targets

Maybe you just want to live a healthier life by exercising. Well, if you are targeting to run 5 km every day, indeed the target is already specific, but you also need to consider whether it is realistic or not.

If in the end we n't ca achieve it, we will be disappointed and lazy to continue our resolution. So, keep your target small, the important thing is that it can be achieved and motivates us to keep going.

Prepare alternative activities

Some of us may have bad habits that we want to break during the new year. Well, it's better not to write resolutions like "don't bite your nails anymore" or "don't get addicted to scrolling TikTok anymore." Why? Because it's really hard to leave activities that have long been a part of us.

To reduce activities which do not want, we need to set up an alternative activity. For example, you want to stop scrolling through social media without knowing the time, then make your resolution to “read a 10 page book a day.” For example, if you want to reduce the frequency of naps during the day, write your resolution to “go for a walk after lunch.”

Define " rewards "

Usually when we are young, we are told to eat vegetables and offered to eat ice cream afterwards. Well, this can actually be imitated. Put the activity you want to make a habit of at the beginning, then end with an activity that you can enjoy. For example, you want to exercise regularly. Try to set your exercise schedule before the shampoo schedule.

So, those are some steps to make your New Year's resolution a success. Happy new year to all of us!, may many good things happen in 2022! (*)