Study of 1,000 People Shows The Trick That Helps You Stick to New Year's Resolutions
31 DECEMBER 2020
Are you looking forward to starting or changing something in 2021? Whatever your New Year's resolutions, there's an evidence-based way to make them stick for longer - and it's all in the phrasing.
Rather than telling yourself you'll stop or avoid doing something, tell yourself you're going to start doing something instead. For example: a resolution to stop sitting around so much becomes a resolution to attend a regular workout class.
Follow-ups with 1,066 participants over 12 months found that 58.9 percent of those with "approach-orientated" goals considered themselves successful a year after making their resolutions, compared with 47.1 percent of those with "avoidance-oriented" goals.