“New year, new me”: Why your New Year’s resolutions just aren’t gonna work

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. I think if you want to change something, change it today and don’t wait until the New Year.
~Georgina Bloomberg

Ever wondered why, when a new year rolls near, we furrow our brows and set about crafting our resolutions? As often happens, we have the Romans to thank for this.

It was Julius Caesar who reconfigured the calendar year, dedicating the first month to Janus- the two-God whose spirit inhabits doorways and arches. Being a two-faced, doorway inhabiting God, Janus was seen as a deity that looks backwards and forwards. This led Romans to offer sacrifices to Janus, along with promises of good conduct for the next year.

Fast forward to our modern world. Sacrifices are no longer socially acceptable, and budding optimism exists for 2018.

How often we naively say: “New year, new me.”

Our year will always be what we make of it. To that end: 60% of us plan to make a new year’s resolution, but only 40% follow that through. This means, come the second week of January, the majority will have already fallen by the wayside in the quest of giving up drinking, dark chocolate, and all other manners of assorted debaucheries. Some of us may have succeeded- up to this point, at least.

But often, even when we’re fully committed, our misunderstanding about what it takes to change can hold us back from success. To lend a helping hand, here we’ll explore three myths that may be holding you back from making (or shaking) a habit in 2018.

Myth-busting and the truth about change

Myth: It takes us 21 days to change
It’s not clear where this originated from — but it is nothing more than mythical. Research conducted by Phillipa Lally and her colleagues at University College London showed the time it takes to form a new habit ranges dramatically, from 18 to 254 days. So unfortunately, there isn’t a magical cut-off date to strive towards. Which makes sense, because clearly it’s going to be harder to give up smoking than start eating an apple every day…

Myth: We turn to bad habits when stressed
There’s only one word wrong in that sentence — ‘bad’. Stress doesn’t just default us to bad habits, but towards habits generally. This was shown by USC Professor Wendy Wood, who found that we’re just as likely to go to the gym as we are to self-sabotage. This is because our habits are unconscious — and stress or worry reduces our mental capacity making us turn on our autopilot setting. The morality or desirability of the habit doesn’t matter. This also explains why some tend to bite their fingers in stressful situations…

Which would you choose?

Myth: Willpower is key
Willpower is a misleading issue. Changing habits is more about limiting the choices we have to make. Think of a habit as an automatic response to our environment. If we have both cake and apples in the kitchen, we have to make a choice — and if we have a penchant for unhealthy food, that desire may kick in. By removing the cake from the equation, we remove the habit — as opposed to worrying about the willpower needed to override such a delectable decision.

How to use this insight
There’s never a good or bad time to start a change. If there’s something you want to improve, jump in and get to work. Apply the science in this article to get off to an explosive start.

• One day at a time: Given we don’t know how long it’ll take to change a habit, focus on one day at a time. Set reminders in your phone or your outlook to pester you into change.
• Go easy on yourself: We’re all fallible to lapsing. The irony is that worrying about it (creating stress) makes it more likely to happen…
• Change your environment: Make an assault on your desk area, taking out anything that might lead you to stray towards a habit you want to lose. If you’re not longer surrounded by things that cue your habit, you’re less likely to relapse. If you want to keep practising the guitar, keep it close.

Want to know more?
Wendy Wood’s website on the University of Southern California gives a good overview of what habits are
The research that 60% of us plan to make a new year’s resolution can be found in John Norcross’s book Changeology
Jeremy Dean has a very accessible book on making change stick through habits, called ‘Making habits, breaking habits’. It’s on Amazon, here

About the author
Iain is a Business Psychologist working for Mind Gym. He is also currently completing a part-time PhD in Applied Psychology at the University of Nottingham.