Fresh Start: Practical Strategies for Achieving Your New Year Goals

A new year marks a new beginning, and not just for your tax return or health insurance deductible.

Depending on your personal goals, January can also herald the start of a more positive attitude, a healthier diet, or improved physical fitness — all frequent goals of New Year’s resolutions.

Making resolutions, of course, is only a first step. Keeping them requires both willpower and commitment. Here are some tips that can help you stay on track:

• Use an app to track your progress. Whether you’re looking to quit smoking, lose weight, get more active, or improve your sleep schedule, there’s a smartphone app that can help you stay motivated. An umbrella review of studies on the use of tracking apps in achieving physical activity goals, published in the August 2022 edition of The Lancet Digital Health, found that they appear to be effective for a variety of age groups. Users achieved clinically significant results that lasted for at least six months.
• Team up with a friend. Working toward a goal is easier if you share the experience with a partner. “Lean on people,” UC Davis Health says in a blog post. “We function better with community around us, motivating and reminding us why we chose that New Year’s resolution in the first place.”
• Keep your goal realistic. Rather than aiming for drastic change, break your goal down into small, specific steps. A resolution to “exercise more” is too general to provide accountability, according to a blog post from UC Davis Health. A more detailed target, such as “exercise 30 minutes a day,” gives you a measurable goal to check off, which “will help you feel more accomplished,” it says.
• Stay positive. It’s normal to have setbacks occasionally, so aim to keep a positive attitude and stay focused on your ultimate goal. “Remember that you don’t have to be perfect,” says John Kelley, D., distinguished professor of psychology at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. “If you’re moving in the right direction, that is good enough.” Establishing positive habits is key to success, he adds. “It’s very easy for me to forget to bring my gym clothes when I set off for work in the morning, so I miss working out,” Kelley says. “To counter this, when I get home each evening, I immediately pack my gym bag so I don’t have any excuses.” If you deal with seasonal depression historically, plan ahead this year.
• Use distraction to work around negative attitudes. If you don’t enjoy cardiovascular exercise, like climbing on a step machine or walking on a treadmill, focusing on how much time remains until you complete your routine generally makes it tougher to keep going, Kelley says. “It’s easier to distract yourself in some way, like watching a movie,” he explains. Afterward, don’t feel bad if you didn’t accomplish as much as you planned: “Say, ‘I made it to the gym. Good for me.’”
• Reward yourself. Planning to buy yourself some new workout gear or some other treat after you’ve reached a particular milestone can be a powerful incentive. Incremental rewards can be especially useful. A 2018 study by a Cornell University professor, published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that the immediacy of a reward boosted motivation by strengthening the link between the activity and the goal.