Every New Year’s since he turned 16, Richard Koestner has made resolutions.
He’s Catholic, so he resolved to go to church. He failed. He works at McGill University, so he resolved to learn French. He failed. He writes articles and research papers, so he resolved to write an hour each day. He failed.
And yet, every year, Koestner tries again. He studies this type of thing — the success and failure of goals and the reasons behind those outcomes — as the director of McGill’s Human Motivation Lab. He has yet to grow cynical. In fact, he seems downright enamoured with the idea of trying — and failing — to be better.
“It’s an optimistic thing to do,” Koestner said, “and I do think the way we find motivation in our lives is by setting goals.”
This is the time of year when Koestner’s expertise is most in demand. Hopeful Canadians are setting resolutions by the millions with the looming truth that most of these goals will fail. They all too often do. One study found nearly one in four people fail their resolutions within a week; nearly half fail by the end of January.
The good news is people like Koestner have dedicated much of their adult lives to researching why. They have advice on how to succeed.
Make resolutions for you
Researchers classify goals into two categories: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic goals, simply put, are “ought to” goals — things you feel pressure from others to do. Intrinsic goals are “want to” goals — things you truly want to do and that align with our values and personality.
“We set goals for things that we feel others are doing, or things that we should do, or things that we feel guilty about not having done,” Koestner said. “It almost feels more controlled and coerced, rather than something you’re looking forward to and doing voluntarily.”
Research shows people who set intrinsic goals are more likely to be successful, said Anne Wilson, a social psychology professor at Wilfrid Laurier University who researches motivation and goal pursuit.
A quick way to tell the difference, according to Carleton University goal pursuit researcher Marina Milyavskaya, is to ask yourself, “Am I doing this for somebody else, or am I doing this for me?”
Be specific
New Year’s resolutions are often broad, but that is a recipe for failure. Instead, Wilson recommends using the SMART goal system, which encourages specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound resolutions.
A broad goal, for example, might be to lose weight. A specific and measurable goal might be to stop drinking pop or to eat more fruits and vegetables, Wilson suggested.
“Those kinds of specific actions are often pretty achievable for people and will help you get towards your goal,” Wilson said.
Have a plan
Goals are “all about self control,” Koestner said, a finite resource that almost everyone is already maxed out on.
Instead, have a plan to minimize the amount of willpower needed. If you want to go to the gym three mornings a week, book time in your calendar to make it happen. If you want to eliminate junk food from your diet, stop buying it with your groceries. That way, you’ll have to make a dedicated trip to get that bag of chips.
“The more you can make it the easy and default thing to do, the better,” Wilson said. “Make laziness work for you.”
Over time, these behaviours become a habit and the amount of self control needed decreases.
Don’t overcommit
Most people set too many resolutions, Koestner said. Limited self control means limited energy to make goals happen.
A common pitfall in goal-setting is imagining your future self will be more rational, capable and disciplined than you are now. “You’re generally going to be sorely mistaken,” Wilson said. “You’re going to be subject to the same time pressures, the same lack of willpower.”
Setting only one or two resolutions is ideal, Koestner said, although some goals — like healthy eating and exercise — naturally fit together.
Make changes
If a resolution isn’t working, the answer isn’t to abandon it outright. Instead, re-evaluate the goal and why it’s not succeeding.
Perhaps the resolution is too extrinsic, or not specific enough. Maybe the plan you made isn’t working with your schedule. It could just be too ambitious.
“Adjust it,” Milyavskaya said, “rather than just throwing your hands in the air saying, ‘Oh, I can’t do it, nevermind.’ ”
Don’t be afraid to fail
Sometimes, it feels like resolutions are meant to be broken. That’s OK.
There’s nothing all that special about New Year’s, other than the psychological boost of the so-called “fresh start effect.” In fact, with short days and miserable weather, Koestner finds January to be an especially hard time to set new goals.
He recommends setting resolutions again on Canada Day, when the days are longer and free time seems easier to find.
But even if goals fail, they are still worthwhile. Research shows those who set New Year’s resolutions are more likely to make the changes they aspire to than those who don’t.
“Making explicit what we want to accomplish helps us track and monitor how well we’re moving toward it,” Milyavskaya said. “Having that verbalized gives us something to aim towards.”
