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Article written by Anneliese Kuemmerle, Program Associate- Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County- Family and Community Health Sciences
The new year is a popular time for turning over a new leaf, starting fresh, inviting positive change. The busy holiday season is behind us, new calendars are before us. Each day the sun rises a little earlier and sets a little later than the day before.
New Year’s resolutions are a popular topic this month, but how many of us are actually making them? According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of Americans reported they did not make any resolutions last year. When asked why, a majority replied that they simply do not like to make them.
Digging deeper into the polls hints at some possible reasons for resolution reluctance. Nearly half of Americans who did make resolutions were under the age of 30. Each age group had fewer resolution makers than the younger one before it. Why is this? Younger people may be making and sharing resolutions to interact with peers on social media. Pew Research Center found that adults under 30 are much more likely to use social media than their older counterparts, and researchers have described New Year’s resolutions as a “social media ritual.”
Another reason for resolution reluctance could simply be that they don’t work for most of us. We are less likely to repeat something that hasn’t worked for us in the past. We learn and grow over time. Hopefully, we disengage with things that haven’t served us. Popular resolutions like “exercise more,” “lose weight,” or “eat healthier” do not work, and it is not your fault. These resolutions are ideas, not plans. We need a realistic plan we can stick to.
Putting a plan in place can help improve your health throughout the year. We can use a framework based on SMART goals, which are an evidence-based way to make small, sustainable changes over time. SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. We address each letter when setting goals. Let’s look at it in action.
What is one area where you would like to improve? Reflect on last year: what went well, what were some barriers? Are they barriers you can control? What is important and relevant to you? Give yourself some time to write things down, journal, or just think.
The next step is zooming in to one specific action you would like to take. Yes, one thing. Consider positive healthy behaviors you would like to add to your routine. Researchers have found that people are more likely to stick to goals that add actions than to goals about avoiding or restricting something.
After you have decided on your activity, make it measurable with amounts or time frames. If your goal is to eat more vegetables, how many servings are you adding each day or week? How often will you do your activity? If you aren’t doing it at all now, three times a week is more realistic than every day. How much time can you spend on it? Breaking up exercise into three 20-minute sessions might suit your schedule better than one hourlong session.
Last step: put a due date on your plan. Afterwards, check in with yourself. If you achieved it, congratulations! Consider ways to build on it if you feel ready. If barriers held you back, restart. You can revisit this process any time of the year, no resolutions required.