The most popular New Year’s resolutions
„In the coming year, I’ll try to reduce stress , put more money aside, enjoy more time together with family and friends, exercise regularly, avoid alcohol and eat healthier.“ This year, too, New Year’s resolutions often revolve around this Topics of stress, nutrition and a healthier lifestyle. However, as inflation continues, saving has become the top topic this year. This is shown by a survey by Statista that was carried out in November this year among people with good intentions. Last year, the resolution “Save more money” was still in third place. According to the current survey, the most popular New Year’s resolutions for 2024 are (sorted by popularity):
- Save more money
- To do more sports
- Eat healthier
- Spend more time with family/friends
- Lose weight
- Reduce living expenses (e.g. food, energy)
- Do more for the environment
- Have less stress at work
- Stop smoking
- Drink less alcohol
- Spend less time on social media
- Show better performance at work
- Go vegan/vegetarian
About unrealized New Year’s resolutions, flowers and fruits
As you have just read, with good intentions we are usually trying to become a better version of ourselves. But life rarely changes overnight and habits cannot be broken overnight. We also quickly tend to take on too much instead of concentrating on one New Year’s resolution – the most important one for us.
» On the tree of good intentions there are many blossoms, but few fruits. «
Chinese politician and philosopher Confucius
Sure, we can enjoy the beautiful flowers of a tree. Nevertheless, we need the fruit to nourish us. In other words: making good resolutions is something positive and a first step in the right direction. However, we often stop at this step and don’t go any further. Flowers do not produce fruit. This phenomenon is known in psychology as the intention-behavior gap . It describes why the corresponding behavior does not always occur despite a strong intention.
Example: Let’s assume that Linda made a good resolution on New Year’s Eve to stress less in the coming year and to take more time for herself. But then in January she was the last person in the office again, worked a lot of overtime and just fell into bed dead tired after work.
And now the intention-behavior gap comes into play: A New Year’s resolution forms a good basis, but alone is not enough to actually change your own behavior. This requires a conscious decision to really want to achieve the desired goal. This decision then fills the gap between the good intention (intention) and the change in behavior.
4 steps to make your good intentions come true
Psychological theory or not, but what can we derive from this to actually put our New Year’s resolutions into action? We’ll show you 4 steps with which you can realize your good resolutions step by step .
1Set priorities and make decisions
The list of New Year’s resolutions can be long and apply to pretty much all areas of our lives. But just as Rome wasn’t built in a single day, we can’t change completely overnight. That’s why it can be helpful to think about which wishes we want to give more weight to and which good intentions we’re pushing back.
Then decide specifically on a New Year’s resolution that you would like to pursue. The following applies: It is better to implement one really important resolution than to not finish many small ones.
When making your choice, it can be helpful to be aware of why this good resolution is so important to you: What motivates you to do it? You should also make sure that your goal is realistic. “Stop eating sweets at all,” for example, is difficult to maintain and can quickly lead to frustration instead of success.
If you find it difficult to become aware of your motivations and set realistic goals, please take a look at our articles on making decisions and perseverance . So that you don’t lose sight of your motivation, you can write down your personal answer to this question and stick it on your fridge, for example.
Linda’s example: “ In the new year I would like to work less overtime at work so that I can have a little more time for myself.“
2Planning is key when it comes to New Year’s resolutions
The next step is to transform the New Year’s resolution into a concrete plan. Whether the good resolutions will actually be kept in the new year is usually decided when the New Year’s resolution is formulated. “Work less,” for example, is very vague and should therefore be formulated more specifically. It has been shown that concrete “ If…, then…” sentences increase the likelihood that the behavior will actually be implemented. So please take a piece of paper and think about answers to the following questions: What will I do? When and where will I do this? How will I do that?
Linda’s example: Linda picks up a colored sticky note and formulates: “ When I go back to work on Monday, I will set an alarm for 6 p.m. to remind me to get off work on time.“
3Put the plan into action
Now it’s about not losing sight of your goal, remaining steadfast and putting your plan into action. It can help to become aware of possible stumbling blocks on the way to your goal and to prepare yourself for them. So think about it: What could cause me to deviate from my plan and how can I prevent it? How will I still motivate myself in difficult moments? With this in mind, it can be helpful to involve your family or friends in your plan. True to the motto: Commit to your goal!
What would Linda do? Linda’s example: When Linda sits down at her desk on Monday, she discovers her sticky note reminding her of her good intentions. So that she actually gets off work at 6 p.m., she sets an alarm and arranges to meet a friend that evening. If a colleague asks for help shortly before work, she has decided to offer him time the next morning.
4Become aware of your successes
You managed! The last step is to give yourself a pat on the back. Because no matter whether you can implement your plan straight away or not, every step counts. So don’t forget to praise yourself for intermediate goals and small successes. This step is important to motivate you to move forward. And remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Linda did it too! When Linda comes home after dinner with her friend, she is proud of herself: “I managed to leave the office on time. Although I won’t be able to arrange a date every evening, I will set the alarm again for tomorrow.“
Let the New Year be your year
The bottom line is that New Year’s resolutions are a great opportunity to become aware of your wishes and goals for the new year. Because times in which we deal with ourselves are often rare, but valuable and important. New Year’s resolutions can give direction to our lives and serve as a guiding thread throughout the new year. For this reason in particular, it is important that you make your resolutions the way you want your New Year to be. We would be happy to support you in the new year with our psychological online courses, including on the topics of “ Stress and Burnout ”, “ Sleeping ” or “ Drinking Less Alcohol ”.
1 july 2019