How to Crush Your New Year’s Resolutions in 2021

New year’s resolutions usually end in failure.

Not the kind of failure where you learn something (so it’s not really failure but learning). Failure failure. Like the never-getting-off-the-blocks kind of failure.

At least when you get off the blocks, you can learn from what you did and didn’t do.

But when you never really do anything? Well, that something different altogether.

And it’s not just new year’s resolutions that end in failure. As Captain Obvious would say, you can make a resolution at any point in time, and completely crash and burn.

I’m no different.

Before I actually posted my first post on Wukkin in March 2020, I had tried (and failed) to start a blog for 2 years.

I bought a domain name, started some half-way writing and just muddled about. Friends, I couldn’t even get the gumption to try to learn WordPress or sign up with a hosting provider! Everything was overwhelming.

So, I did absolutely nothing. Nada. Nilch. Zip.

Moreover, every time the new year came around, I would say to myself, ‘This year is the year Camille. This year is the year.” And then it wasn’t. Because I did nothing. For 2 years.

What made me finally get off the blocks and start running?

I’ll tell you. But first…

History Time

You know I like to hit you with a little history friends. Like finding out the origination of the whole new year’s resolution ‘thing’ in the first place.

As it turns out, the tradition is about 4000 years old (although it wasn’t named new years’ resolutions until 1813). Rooted in religious traditions of the Babylonians and the Romans, human beings (it appears) have always loved to make promises that they probably wouldn’t keep at the start of a cycle.

Initially, these promises were made to the god of the hour. However, in an era where many people adopt philosophies that suggest that they are their own gods, societally-acceptable new year’s resolutions are often promises made to oneself about oneself (that usually fail).

The failure of new year’s resolutions are so common that January 17 has been dubbed ‘Ditch the Resolutions’ Day. How official.

Essentially, it appears to be societally acceptable to under-achieve. Hide that light under a bushel, why don’t you?

However, you might not be into the whole ‘aiming to fail’ culture and are looking to make a real change in your life. I know that at the end of 2019, that was me. And now, you’re reading my blog.

If you are in this category, keep reading.

If you’re not, keep reading too (it helps my engagement).

The Neuroscience of Commitment

Now that we know the history of new year’s resolutions, let’s look at the neuroscience of commitment. That’s because ditching new year’s resolutions (on Jan 17 or whenever) is essentially a failure to commit to them.

Let’s hope that the science can explain why we fail to commit, in order to determine whether what jumpstarted me into Wukkin may help you too.

Pre-commitment

The first co-star of the brain for measuring commitment is the lateral frontopolar cortex (LFPC). The LFPC is the part of the brain which controls behavioural planning and rules.

By monitoring the LFPC, scientists discovered that we are more likely to follow through with long-term goals when we take away a future choice for ourselves i.e. pre-commitment. Pre-commitment was the determining factor for the successful pursuit of long-term goals, not willpower.

In another study on the efficacy of pre-commitment, participants were offered a 25% discount on grocery items if they committed to purchasing a certain percentage of healthy foods per month. Households that pre-committed to healthy foods were more likely to buy them than non-committers or the control group.

FYI, you can check out another study on pre-commitment here, if you’re interested in reading more on this topic.

Therefore, hinging our new year’s resolutions on willpower appears to be a recipe for disaster. There needs to be a plan.

A resolution made on the fly literally will fly away.

Apathy

The co-star of our commitment neuroscience story is apathy, i.e. a lack of interest or motivation.

Other than being a symptom of mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, apathy has also recently been posited as an early indicator of certain forms of dementia or cognitive decline years before symptoms first emerge in adults aged 45-65.

Apathy may also be an indicator of decreased function in certain brain systems.  

Thus, it appears that proper brain functioning is also a critical aspect of our ability to commit to our goals.

P.S. I’m aware of this study on apathy in persons with genetic cerebral small vessel disease but chose not to discuss it because I think that the participant group of 19 people is too small.

Following Through with New Year’s Resolutions

Of course, the big question is: how do I fix my inability to stick to a new year’s resolution?

Let’s go over what the science says, shall we?

Breaking down all the sciency-blah-blah into ‘regular’ English, you’re probably not able to commit to your new year’s resolutions for one of two reasons:

Firstly, it seems that the way we choose to implement the resolutions is critical. No plan, no success. As my Girl Guides Book said, if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.

Secondly, it might actually be an imbalance or dysfunction in your brain that prevents you from committing to achieving your goal.

Going back to my example of launching Wukkin, I did two things: I sought help from a mental health professional and subsequently, created a plan to ensure that, no matter what, Wukkin would launch on March 03 2020.

For example, my brother helped me set up the initial back office for my website (hosting, signing up for WordPress, choosing a theme etc.). My husband held me accountable to the deadline of March 03. And trust me, I needed that accountability. I was so afraid to press the publish button. But I’m so glad I did.

Without knowing it, I actually did what my research supports.

Friends, if I can do it, you can do it too.

How to Go About It

The key to success for most of us is SMART planning and stubborn-ness.

If you’re waiting to feel energised before you start, you’ll be waiting a loooong time. Instead, plan so that you will restrict your future choices and therefore, keep to your goal.

SMART New Year’s Resolutions

For instance, a goal to improve your communication at work is quite frankly too broad and likely to fail. Using the SMART framework, make your goal:

Specific: improve email and letter writing.

Measurable: by your response rates and the quality of the responses per email. For example, did the person understand what you asked? Have you asked for feedback? What kind of feedback did you receive? You can also consider measurability from the perspective of your performance appraisal or some other professional growth plan with your boss or mentor.

Achievable: How are you going to achieve this goal? Doing research and checking out the posts here, here, here and here should help. You can also consider taking an online course like this one if you’re in a leadership position (or aspire to be in such a position).

Side Note: Have you read my free guide yet on career transition? Don’t miss out! Check it out here.

Realistic: Are you physically and mentally capable? How much do you need to improve?

Time-bound: Set a timeline for yourself based on all the information above. For example, you will improve your email and letter writing in 6 months.

The SMART framework is classic for a reason: it really works. Give it a try for your new year’s resolution planning.

Purposeful New Year’s Resolutions

Using your SMART plan, determine how you will implement it. How will you restrict your future choices so that you only follow your plan?

For the example of improving your email and letter writing, you may determine that you will read over each email or letter aloud before you send it. You can even create email rules that require a delay in sending emails or decide to keep emails in draft longer.

I know this part is hard work. It’s not easy to figure out your pre-programmed response sometimes.

However, if you don’t start, you will never finish. Don’t stay on the blocks in your career journey. Be stubborn but not too stubborn in following your SMART plan: if it needs readjustment, amend!).

Now, if you’re frustrated because you’ve already tried this approach with no success, please consider seeing a GP doctor or mental health professional. You may have some underlying health issues that must be addressed before you can really crush your goals.

What This All Boils Down to: Choice

You can ditch the new year’s resolutions (or any other resolutions you’ve made) on Jan 17 or any other day you choose, as expected.

Or, you can be different.

Start your journey. Get off the blocks.

Make a pre-commitment: a SMART plan to restrict your future choices to only the choices that you want to make. And if that doesn’t work, consider visiting your GP doctor or a qualified mental health professional.

Let me know in the comments below what your career goals for 2021 are – I’ll write a post to help you crush them!

Until the next post, go forth and be awesome friends.