Volume 1 | Issue 1
January 2021
The Good Health Newsletter
New Year’s Resolutions - How to Succeed
Dr H Bakewell
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
At this time of year we start to look to the future and maybe make some New Year’s resolutions to improve our life, make a healthy change or do something we’ve always wanted to do. A YouGov poll in 2018 found that 25% of Britons will make a New Year’s Resolution and that the commonest resolutions are to exercise, loose weight and eat a healthier diet.
On average 80% of New year’s resolutions will fail, so often after a few weeks of effort our good intentions fall by the wayside but there is good science to back up why this happens.
“You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
How to Succeed
1. Be specific
A resolution to “do more exercise” becomes “do yoga on my yoga mat in the living room for 20 minutes twice per week after I get home from work”
2. Make a tiny change
If 20 minutes twice per week is not realistic then reduce it to something more achievable, say 10 minutes just once per week. Don’t worry if it doesn’t seem like much, by setting the bar so low you are more likely to be successful and this creates positive feedback, making the habit more likely to stick, then you can increase it if you wish. It’s better to make a small change now and stick to it than fail to completely overhaul your lifestyle.
Tip: Don’t try to create more than about three new habits at a time
3. Create an environment that sets you up to succeed
If you want to give up eating unhealthy snacks, remove them from the house, hide them in your garden shed or simply don’t buy them, stock up with some healthy alternatives instead. Want to exercise more? You could try getting your exercise clothes ready the night before so all you have to do in the morning is put them on and go for that run.
4. Get help and support
You are more likely to succeed if you have the support of your friends, family or by joining a group of like-minded group of people such your local ParkRun group (see below for details). At St Wulfstan surgery our smoking cessation nurse can offer support to stop smoking, studies show you are more likely to quit smoking for good with outside help.
5. Don’t try to do create more than about three new habits at a time
6. Focus on the process not the end goal
Having a goal doesn’t mean you will achieve it but by focusing on achieving the small daily habits you will gradually incorporate the change into your lifestyle and that way you will start to see results.
Further Reading
If you want to learn more about building daily habits to improve your lifestyle and overall health then I recommend checking out:
Written by Dr H Bakewell