Happy New Year! I expect that many readers currently find themselves in a familiar place this January, recommitted to their physical and mental health after a busy holiday season. It’s so natural for us to have at least a few intentions when we turn the page on another year. While these sorts of “new year’s resolutions” often get a bad rap, I believe that any occasion which causes us to reflect and aim for better is a welcomed one. In fact I will be celebrating this annual custom by sharing some tips to help you turn your resolution into a sustainable part of your life.
My first recommendation is to set up your day to make your new habit the easiest option. In psychology literature, this is called “reducing friction.” The idea is that when we first commit to a new practice, nothing will stop us because we are so excited! Often our enthusiasm wanes within a few weeks and we find ourselves again pursuing the path of least resistance (which incidentally doesn’t include eating more salad, meditating more, etc.) Therefore, we need to set up our lives so that the default action is our new healthy habit. For example, if we want to eat more life-giving food, then we should only keep whole foods in our kitchen. Even if we are craving potato chips, we will find ourselves snacking on fruit and nuts if there are no processed foods to be found. If we want to attend a morning yoga class but struggle with consistency, then perhaps we should make plans to join a friend and pay for the class in advance. Then it will be easier to attend than have to cancel and get our money back!
The second tip, as recommended by James Clear in his book Atomic Habits, is to answer two specific questions about whatever habit you hope to acquire. Where and when will you complete them? Until we provide these details, our resolution is largely theoretical. However, when we decide, for example, that we will journal every morning in our bedroom after brushing our teeth, our new habit has a real place in our lives. I used this strategy to gain time for medical education podcasts. Once I decided that I would listen to one lecture every weekday afternoon when driving to school pickup, I found myself quickly caught up on my queue.
Lastly, I want to remind everyone to not give up! New healthy habits can be challenging at first, but not forever. The science tells us that it takes about 66 days of consistency for something to become part of our fiber, an action we simply take without having to think about it. I encourage everyone to go ahead and use every trick of the trade and all the discipline that you can muster for the next couple of months. I promise it well get easier as long as you stick to it! As always, keep seeking!