Five Neuroscience-Based Tips for Making Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick by Alexis Zahner
Tired of the New Year New You routine that seems to last through January only to fall flat come Feb? Well, you might not be making your new habits ‘sticky’ enough.
Here’s the thing: change is uncomfortable. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, ditch the booze, or dedicate yourself to writing more poems, our brains are designed to conserve energy by doing what they already know – which is why change can feel really tough to stick with.
But with the spark of excitement the New Year brings, and armed with my five neuroscience-back tips, be bold and set those goals!
These five tips are designed to make your new habits ‘sticky’, helping you to push beyond the initial friction phase to truly integrate these changes into your life:
1. Embed Change in Your Identity
Don’t just imagine the change happening, become the change. When a behaviour becomes part of our identity, we’re more likely to stick with it. Instead of framing your resolution as something you “want” to do, frame it as part of who you are. For instance, instead of saying, “I want to run regularly,” say, “I am a runner.” This engages the brain’s neural pathways for identity, making it easier to maintain consistent behaviours since they align with how you see yourself.
2. Habit Stack to Build Momentum
Habit stacking involves linking new behaviours to existing ones, which helps your brain adapt more quickly. Neuroscience tells us that when habits are tied to familiar routines, the brain recognises the patterns and reinforces them. So if you already drink coffee every morning, you could stack a new habit, like journaling for five minutes, right after your coffee ritual. The brain naturally associates the new behaviour with the existing habit, making it easier to stick with.
3. Focus on Pull Motivators, Rather than Push
The motivation behind your resolutions greatly influences your success. Pull motivators, such as self-love and positive reinforcement, create lasting change because they work with your brain’s reward system. In contrast, push motivators like fear, guilt, or self-criticism activate stress responses, which are often unsustainable and can leave us exhausted. Focus on how your resolution supports a better version of yourself: instead of exercising out of fear of gaining weight, focus on exercising because it makes you feel strong, healthy, and empowered.
4. Use Commitment Devices to Stay Accountable
Commitment devices are strategies that make it harder to back out of your goals. By putting obstacles in place ahead of time, you reduce the cognitive load on your prefrontal cortex, which manages self-control and helps combat instant gratification. What does this all mean exactly? As an example, if you want to spend less time on social media, you could install an app that limits usage or removes distracting apps altogether. This simple step helps you stick to your resolution by reducing temptations in advance.
5. Build in Flexibility
Rigid goals can overwhelm the brain, and don’t allow space for when life inevitably happens! Building flexibility into your resolutions helps prevent frustration and allows room for adjustments and setbacks without feeling like you’ve failed. For instance, if working out more often is your goal, set a realistic expectation of four out of seven days of the week, allowing you space to reschedule if you miss a workout. Flexible goals are more sustainable because they keep you engaged without triggering stress responses that could derail your progress. Remember, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, if you misstep pick yourself and do better tomorrow!
By embedding change in your identity, stacking habits, using pull motivators, employing commitment devices, and allowing flexibility, you can leverage the brain’s natural processes to make your New Year’s resolutions ‘stickier’ for the long haul.