7 Tips to Make your New Year’s Resolutions Stick

According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, only 71% of people keep their New Years Resolutions past 2 weeks, 64% past 1 month and 46% past 6 months.

So why is it so hard to make changes?

Because most of our actions are driven by subconscious drives!   95% of our brain processes are subconscious, and so if we consciously want to lose weight, our subconscious might be telling us that losing weight isn’t safe.

Then how do some people succeed?

It has to do with our self-efficacy, that is, our belief in our power to achieve our goal.   One important way to increase self-efficacy is to be educated about effective change.   Below are a few important tips to keep in mind if you want your New Years Resolutions to stick:

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Five Simple Mental Reframes for Success

I’ve spent the majority of my life struggling.   I frequently looked around at other classmates or colleagues and wondered why life seemed so much easier for them.   As I gradually began to learn why, I realized one of the key differences of more successful people was a healthier perspective than mine.  Over time, I’ve learned healthier reframes that have more effectively supported my growth and allowed me to view success more realistically.  Here are some of my favorites with words of wisdom from my teachers:

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When Goal Setting Fails

You’ve heard it all before.   To reach your goal, you have to visualize it, create a dream board, you have to think positive thoughts and get excited about it.   But what if  you can visualize your goals, but try as you might,  you just don’t find yourself that motivated to reach your goal?

For as long as I can remember, I had a really hard time being driven by goals.   Don’t get me wrong, I always completed classroom assignments, and in graduate school I wrote research papers, and completed my thesis, but what motivated me was not having a paper or completed thesis.  For me,  I was driven by something entirely different:

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When Challenged by Gratitude…

There’s been a lot of discussion of the importance of gratitude and why should all write gratitude lists.   Being grateful increases our capacity for joy, optimism and happiness, it increases our motivation, strengthens our immune system and decreases our susceptibility to pain, and strengthens our social connections.

But gratitude is not always easy.

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What is the biggest block to achieving your goals?

I believe its fear.

It may not be a fear we are conscious of.  Its often disguised as overwhelm or procrastination.

Imagine reaching a goal you haven’t been able to reach, whether it’s being healthy, getting that promotion, reaching your income goals, or finding

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Why is it So Hard to Form a New Habit?

You hear it from the news, from friends, from doctors, and even your own inner voice telling you to eat better, exercise more, stop smoking, cut down on the drinking, get more sleep, etc, etc.  Year after year, you resolve at the beginning of the New Year, that this year you’ll make those changes, and sometimes you do, but they don’t last.  Or maybe you’ve put off the change indefinitely, waiting for more inner strength to do so, or waiting until you can’t ignore the problem any longer.

A few years ago, I wrote an article “Can we effect personal change?”

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