Did you make a New Year’s Resolution last year? Think back about what you chose to do. Maybe it was a general goal, such as “eat healthier”. Or was it more specific, like “go to the gym 5 times a week”? Lots of people attempt to cut out foods or alcohol (tending toward an “all or nothing” approach). No more Ice Cream. No more chips. No candy. No cookies. No sweets. No wine. No Fast Food. No soda. You get it.
Now fast forward to where you are today. Did the goal you chose last year change your behavior for the better? Are you sticking to your goals? If you are like most people, chances are after a month or two, bad habits creep back in. It doesn’t have to be that way…….if you choose the right goals.
I am guessing when you pick a New Year’s Resolution you are not delving into the scientific research on what contributes to success. If you did, I bet you would be surprised at how complicated behavior change can be. It also might be surprising to learn that when you pick a goal, depending on what it is, you are setting yourself up for long term success…or failure. There are many aspects to the psychology of behavior change, however to help you reflect on what you are about to challenge yourself with I have chose three theories that really made sense to me:
Outcome vs Process
Mastery vs Performance
Rigid vs Flexible
First, let’s talk about “outcome” goals vs “process” goals. An outcome goal focuses on simply the end result, such as “lose ten pounds” or “save 100 dollars”. People may change their behavior in positive ways however if they don’t meet the specific goal (only lost 5 pounds, only saved 70 dollars) they don’t feel successful and tend to give up. A “process” goal, on the other hand, focuses on the behaviors and habits that lead us to accomplishing our goal. For example, “add a vegetable and a fruit to lunch”, or “bring lunch from home instead of going out to eat”. these goals tend to be doable and measurable and very specific. Research shows that outcome goals tend to backfire whereas people who focus on process goals tend to be more successful.
Secondly, it is important to reflect on whether you are “Mastery-oriented” or “Performance-oriented”. Performance oriented people tend to focus on surface level achievements such as “no junk food” or “walk an hour every day”. Self-evaluation is based totally on performance. If you have a challenging day, and just can’t perform for whatever reason, you tend to feel bad and will likely judge yourself in a negative way. This type of approach is less likely to lead to long term behavior change.
On the other hand, “mastery-oriented” individuals focus instead on learning. They may have similar goals (eat healthier, get fit, save money, drink less etc) but instead of setting themselves up for feeling bad they delve deeper. They focus on personal growth and learning from setbacks. They are continuously reflecting and therefore able to improve. Each time something derails their efforts they learn something new. Next time they will be prepared. A mistake is an opportunity to fix something. It is not something to feel bad about or beat yourself up over.
Which brings us to the third and possibly most important theory, “Rigid vs Flexible”. Often applied to eating behaviors, there is plenty of research on the problems associated with being too rigid with eating. Placing unrealistic rules regarding avoiding specific foods at all costs leads to unhealthy behaviors such as binge eating and developing unhealthy relationships with food. The reality is being too rigid with any goal tends to backfire. This is a hard one for some people because they honestly have experienced disinhibition, or loss of control after eating one cookie for example. For some people one scoop of ice cream leads to a half gallon binge. Having one drink leads to the entire bottle for some. If this is you although being flexible may be out of the question in your mind, it is not impossible with the right help. If you need to quit drinking for health reasons, or you are out of control with binge eating then please seek professional help by talking to your doctor. If, on the other hand, you simply overeat sweets when you allow yourself to have them, or you find yourself grabbing that extra drink and regretting it the next morning you may have some work to do but if you adopt a “process” approach and a “master-oriented” approach you may over time uncover the triggers for your behavior. For our patients who would binge on sweets because they were forbidden (rigid control) we would guide them into purchasing single servings of a specific sweet (such as one donut) to be enjoyed and to eat mindfully. Eventually, over time they would learn they actually could eat just one. Being flexible works with other goals for behavior change. For example, if you don’t make it to the gym on a specific day, or aren’t up to a walk when you set that as a goal, do not look at it as a failing. You will just go the next time. Be flexible. If you have an “all or nothing” mindset, you are setting yourself up for failure.
Finally, there is also some research on the benefit of building in some flexibility into your goals to leave room for having a “slip” without feeling like a failure (which tends to make you give up). For example, if you are trying to give up sweets perhaps you can plan in an optional 2 desserts a week rather than expect yourself to avoid sweets altogether. You don’t have to have the desserts, but just knowing you can makes it more doable (note: I do not promote giving up foods and I do not promote dieting however people are going to make resolutions and I am hoping they can be less rigid and still work toward a healthier lifestyle). If you are trying to save money by eating out less perhaps set aside a certain amount of money to spend eating out (if you want to) rather than going cold-turkey. If you don’t feel the need to use that money add it to your savings. But having the option at least makes it feel more doable.
For those of you who wish to delve deeper, check out these links to some interesting research on New Year’s Resolutions and behavior change:
Experiment on New Year’s Resolutions
Exploring the Psychology behind Goal Orientation
Goal Setting and Behavior Change
Although I don’t tend to make New Year’s Resolutions because I am one of those people who don’t like to obsess about things, I have been thinking I should make a flexible goal of going back to writing my blog. I was going to make a goal of once per week but after researching this topic I realize that is a bit too rigid for my busy retired lifestyle right now. So I am going to be flexible and build in some slack…my goal, once a month to once a week. It is important to be realistic and make goals doable. That might be doable for me. However, if I don’t do it one month I am not going to feel like I failed. Instead, I am going to take it as a learning experience. I am going to have a “mastery-approach” rather than simply judging my performance.
So here’s to your success in the New Year with whatever your goals and resolutions are! Remember not to judge yourself, but instead keep learning with every mistake or slip you might make! Be flexible and never stop working toward being the healthiest, happiest person you can be! Happy New Year! Yay! I did it!
Joanne Arena MS, RD 