TG LIFE
At the midnight hour of 12o’clock while the world ringed into the new year 2019, along with the wishes came in resolutions either to begin, stop or change the state of our life. There would definitely be another lot that would raise the query whether resolutions are worth it at all.
There are many studies being conducted to understand the psychology behind people resorting to resolutions on New Year’s. Why wait till the New Year to change a particular aspect in life when it can be done at any given point. All you need to do is ‘decide’. There has been no concrete explanation to this but more suggestions to make people stick to their decisions. According to a theory put forth by Edward Hirt, an IU professor of social psychology, published in an international daily, many people make resolutions because they reflect on the past year and discover what they want to change. Another reason many people decide to make these resolutions at that time is because a new year is a literal and symbolic transition in most people’s lives, Hirt said. It is a closing of one chapter and the opening of another. Many effects of resolutions are positive, and it’s always a good idea to become aware of both good and bad habits, Hirt added.
Practical observations make us realise that people initiate a change or re-assess their behaviour after facing a troubled phase in life. This transition in life gives them a chance to bring about a change they desire. But should they wait till the New Year?
The resolutions made in the onset of the New Year have a reputation of being doomed from the start, with notoriously poor results. According to Hirt, many people have the motivation, but when temptations or stress comes back after the initial catalyst, some revert back to old habits.
A research conducted by New York University professor Peter Gollwitzer on how goal intentions can help people attain their goals by planning for troublesome scenarios in advance showed many people fail their goals because of lack of planning rather than lack of motivation. For example, if someone was trying to lose weight for their New Year’s resolution, the person needs to identify certain triggers or situations in which he or she miss their goal breaks.
Another one of Gollwitzer’s studies found the strength of the conviction is also an indicator in whether the resolution will stay strong or not. If someone strongly commits to improving whatever area of their personal life he or she chooses, then there is a higher chance of goal attainment.
Another interesting read is by Tim Herrera, founding editor of Smarter Living where he has a written extensively about following SMART goals. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. In his approach towards following a particular goal, start with ‘specific’, which refers to concrete, clearly defined goals. Here he cites an example of writing a book. Instead of saying you want to write a book this year, say you want to write one chapter every month with a certain word count you’re going to hit weekly. This way, you still have your broad goal of writing the book, but you also have (much) smaller doses of success along the road, and also a road map of how to achieve the larger goal.
Then, you have ‘measurable’. Whatever your goal is, you’re going to have ways to measure the progress you’re making. Sticking with the book example, writing 2,000 words a week is a goal in itself. Those small things add up. There’s a lot of research that says ‘success begets success’. If you think you’ve achieved a certain goal, it can make you more likely to stick with it so you keep achieving goals and getting that reward loop going.
Next, ‘achievable’. You want to aim high but within reason. Writing a book is probably a stretch goal for anyone, but if you have a plan, it can be within reason. If you say you want to become a novelist this year, that’s probably an unreasonable goal. But writing a book is a little more reasonable.
After that, you want to have a ‘relevant’ goal which is about setting goals that you actually care about rather than things you think you should care about or things you’re arbitrarily setting just to have a goal.
And, at last, the ‘T’ is, probably the most important: Have a timeline. Saying you want to write a book this year is great, but if you don’t have a timeline with specific dates and deadlines, and things that you should have achieved by those dates, you’re just setting yourself up for failure.
