Tricks and Pitfalls of New Year’s Resolutions
Fireworks display during New Year’s Eve celebrations in Bangkok.
One of the ways to succeed in following through with one’s New Year’s resolutions is to maintain one’s desire to succeed in that pursuit, however banal this may sound.As one year draws to a close and another begins, many tend to make the New Year’s resolutions, often seeking to do away with some bad habits and acquire better ones.Yet while some end up following through with their commitments, there are also those who fail to do so, and it seems that there are several factors affecting one’s ability to succeed in this matter.Robert West, emeritus professor of behavioral science and health at University College London, pointed out that people essentially tend to pursue the things they desire at the present rather than at some point in the past.”Throughout our waking hours, we act in pursuit of what we most desire at that precise point in time — not an hour ago, a day ago or five minutes ago,” he told Live Science. “That is why it is so often hard to do things we set out to do. When the time comes, we forget what it was we planned or some other desire turns out to be stronger.”
WorldNew Year the Japanese Way: Start Your Life From Scratch24 December 2022, 08:26 GMTHe advised that one should “plan ahead” in order to ensure that one’s “desire to follow the plan is stronger than anything else.””New Year’s resolutions are a way of trying to achieve this. We make a big deal of the plan — to stop smoking, follow a healthy diet or go to the gym — and perhaps we tell people about it and get some kind of support,” West remarked. “This way, if we are successful, the desire to stick to the plan is greater than the desire not to.”Susan Michie, professor of health psychology and director of the University College London’s Centre for Behavior Change, also suggested that a phenomenon called the “intention-behavior gap” may play a role in this matter.”Although someone may feel highly motivated to change, feeling is not enough to make things happen; they also need to have the skills to manage their behavior and the opportunity to make it happen,” she said.