4 Simple Tricks To Make That Resolution Stick

By Amanda Brown

The dawn of a new year sends many of us fleeing to start fresh and change our lives for the better in some way or another.

Whatever it is you set out to do, be it learning a new language or snagging that internship of your dreams, making the resolution is only half of the battle. Sticking to it is where things get tricky. Thankfully, there are some relatively easy ways you can combat your urge to surrender when temptation strikes.

Read below for 4 simple tricks that can help you along your pursuit of self-improvement this new year.

1. Break it down

Big dreams are great, big goals are even better, but by only focusing on your monstrous ambitions, you run the risk of unintentionally setting yourself up for failure.

Instead, break down your big goals for the year into a series of smaller weekly objectives that eventually lead to massive leaps of progress.

Breaking large goals into a series of smaller objectives is a more productive method of goal setting, just as cutting a steak into bite-sized pieces rather than swallowing the slab of meat whole is more feasible for your digestive system.

2. Crack a smile

Sticking to a New Years Resolution doesn’t have to be a solemn procedure. In fact, studies show that a little laughter can go a long way in terms of reducing stress levels and boosting self-control.

Laughter flushes productivity-dwindling stress hormones out of your system, increases heart rate variability, and lowers your time preference, all of which directly correlate with an improved sense of self-control.

A study of Canada’s financial institutions even discovered that managers who had the most laughs also scored the highest in employee performance.

Coincidence? I think not. Many matters of life work in a domino effect sequence; one thought triggers a particular action, which in return leads to a series of related events.

Whether hysterical or forced, laughter makes you feel good. Quality of performance is heavily dependent on how you feel, thus if you feel good, you are more likely to perform well.

Take away note: Loosen up that poker-face and don’t worry so much about where your dominoes land this new year, everything will eventually end up how it’s destined to be and laughing along the way may help tilt the scales in your favor.

3. Put it on paper

It’s a proven fact that those who write down their goals are more successful in reaching them than those who simply rely on memory alone.

In 2007, a study conducted by Dr. Gail Mathews at Dominican University in California showed that students who physically wrote down goals were successful in achieving their goals 42% more of the time than those who didn’t.

Writing down goals is effective, because it helps you create a clear vision of what you want and holds you accountable for your words, making it more likely that you’ll put your goals to action.

Word of advice for the new year; don’t ditch the pen and pad (or iPad) when a thought of some great action you long to achieve crosses your mind, put your goals on paper instead to raise the odds that you’ll make your resolution a year-round reality.

4. When life gives you lemons…

Drink lemonade!

When it comes to making a new years resolution last past January, willpower is an essential component. However, willpower doesn’t come from nothing, it demands energy.

A study performed by Mathew Galliot, Baumeister, and 6 other researchers showed that impulse control is heavily reliant on your blood glucose levels.

In the study, two groups of psychology students were told to fast for 3 hours before watching a movie, one group was instructed to avoid reading subtitles, while the other group was told to watch the movie normally.

Students from both groups were given a cup of Kool-aid lemonade, half of the cups were sweetened with sugar and the other half were sweetened with Splenda, which has no effect on blood sugar levels.

The end result showed that whether students were required to exert self-control by avoiding reading subtitles or were instructed to just watch the movie normally had no noticeable effect on students overall performance.

What was particularly interesting about the results of this study is that both groups who consumed the lemonade made with real sugar performed with a much higher rate of accuracy than those who drank the lemonade made with splenda.

So if your to-do list is long, but your energy is lacking, reach for a drink with a high glycemic index, such as lemonade or orange juice to replenish glucose and renew willpower.

Bottom line is it doesn’t matter how much you spin your wheels thinking about, or talking to friends about the awesome life changes you plan on making this new year, if you don’t actually do anything, you will remain in the same exact spot forever.

Stop putting so much time into contemplating your next step and use these tricks as a launching pad for a successful year.

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