Much like a muscle, willpower can only exert itself for so long before it tires. Combine this with human routine, stubborn as it is, and you can see why 88% of all New Year’s resolutions end in failure. Research shows that nearly nine out of ten New Year’s resolutions don’t last but there are lots of strategies that can increase your chances of successfully developing new habits and keeping them. That’s because by exercising your willpower, much like your muscle, you can build and strengthen it and help yourself stick to better health habits.
These tips might help you become a creature of new habits in 2014:
- Reward yourself … immediately
Self reward is a universal strategy for people trying to form a new habit, but many don’t realise that the odds of success are actually higher when instant gratification comes into play. This is because the feel-good chemical dopamine that reinforces habit increases more with the prospect of an immediate reward than with an abstract one.
So instead of rewarding yourself at the end of a great exercise week, reward yourself right after each workout, whether it’s your indulging in your favourite breakfast or taking a relaxing bath. Nothing gets your willpower going like a low-hanging carrot.
- Stick it out for 9 1/2 Weeks
If I can just stick this out for 21 days then I’ll be reach habitual happily ever after, right? Wrong. The 21 day urban legend had many of us fooled for a long time, until a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology found that developing a habit actually takes an average of nine-and-a-half weeks.
Thankfully, forging a new habit gets easier as you gain momentum and eventually you won’t feel the need to cross days off the calendar.
- Surround yourself with what you want
If you shouldn’t be eating the chocolate biscuits then don’t keep them in your kitchen! Research shows that having certain objects in your immediate environment will influence your motivation to want them more and this applies to forging healthy habits also. For instance, if your goal is to take vitamins daily then place the bottle next to an item that you use frequently, such as a toothbrush. Change your environment and change your ways.
- Declare your health commitments
Made plans to accomplish something with your health? Tell people. Studies show that individuals who made concrete commitments to their health plans actually fulfilled their commitment more than those who did not plan.
- Don’t beat yourself up
Here’s the good news. The occasional slip up is a-okay, because let’s face it you’re not superman and you’re certainly not a robot. A study conducted at Carleton University found that forgiving yourself for the occasional setback actually increases the chances of you reaching your goal, whereas self-punishment only resulted in further delays.