Are New Year’s Resolutions Bullsh*t?
Everybody seems to hate New Year’s resolutions.
The annual reflection on the past year, and committing to better oneself by making changes in your life, seems like a positive step.
Of course, most people’s resolutions flame out after a few weeks. Is it just a waste of time?
New Year’s resolutions bullsh*t?
Here is what most people get wrong.
The key for long-term success is the act of ‘reflection’ (not the goals you choose to write down).
The problem is engaging in reflection only once per year and expecting to achieve a better outcome.
What is Reflective Practice?
Let’s start with a definition. Cognitive reflection is the ability to override an intuitive response with a more analytical one.(1)
It involves a variety of cognitive skills that set you up for success with your diet, training and lifestyle choices, such as;
cognitive flexibility
analytic reasoning
error monitoring
response inhibition
In the real-world, it’s hard to separate yourself from the emotional state connected to fatigue, inability to lose weight, low mood, etc.
Instagram Reel on Resolutions (60 seconds)
YOU DON’T NEED MORE DISCIPLINE
White-knuckling your way to progress isn’t a strategy for long-term success. (And, almost always ends in failure).
For example. if you’re annoyed and frustrated that you’ve gained too much weight over the last year (or years), the knee-jerk response is to ‘go hard’ in January with an intense diet and/or exercise regime.
Better health is a marathon, not a sprint.
You need to nudge and tweak, over and over, until you succeed. The process of reflection makes it easier to uncover ‘what’ changes to make.
Ask better questions and the solutions become more obvious.
Anyone can add a small change into their life, regardless if you’re a CEO, surgeon, executive or busy parent running the household.
Start small and build consistent momentum.
Reflection is THE Superpower
If you have a greater ability to reflect, the new science shows you’re more likely to have higher levels of rational thought, more open-minded thinking, and better at rejecting unsubstantiated claims like fake news.(2,3,4)
Build a better process that allows you to navigate roadblocks and re-orient yourself back toward your goals.
Reflective practice is a skill, and like any other skill, takes time to master.
Commit to reflection as part your process in the New Year.
…
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References
1) Andrew Shtulman, Andrew G. Young. The development of cognitive reflection. 30 December 2022
2) Maggie E Toplak, et al. The Cognitive Reflection Test as a predictor of performance on heuristics-and-biases tasks. Mem Cognit. 2011 Oct;39(7):1275-89.
3) KE Stanovich, et al., The rationality quotient: Toward a test of rational thinking. 2016. MIT Press.
4) Gordon Pennycook et al. Lazy, not biased: Susceptibility to partisan fake news is better explained by lack of reasoning than by motivated reasoning. Cognition. 2019 Jul:188:39-50.