Setting personal goals for the new year can have a positive impact on mental health, said Dr. Susan Albers, a clinical psychologist at the Cleveland Clinic.
"New Year's resolutions help to boost our self-esteem," she said. "They help to give us a sense of control over our lives. And it is a fresh start, psychologically — this clean slate where we can start over, where we can really focus on ourselves."
However, accomplishing these goals requires overcoming various obstacles, including inertia, Albers said.
"We resist change, even on things that we want and want to do," she said. "Our bodies and our minds are wired in a way to stick with the status quo."
Albers, who specializes in helping patients change their eating habits, said changing ingrained habits to meet resolutions — such as losing weight or beginning to exercise — requires first understanding change is not immediate.
"Change isn't like a light switch where we flip on that switch and we are ready to go," she said. "Change is more like a dimmer switch where we gradually turn on those behaviors."
People should take time to properly plan for the changes they're going to make, Albers said. If the resolution is to exercise more, the plan could include researching the kind of exercise you'd like to do and the kind of equipment needed, she said.
Individuals also need to set realistic expectations or they risk giving up.
"If you are someone who says, I want to exercise more and you set the expectation of of going four or five times a week, that just may not be realistic and hard to keep going," Albers said.
New Year's resolutions should also be specific and include specific plans, she said.
"Many of us rely on willpower to change our behaviors by saying, 'I'm not going to do that anymore,' instead of creating structures about how to make that happen," Albers said. "Those goals, if they are not structured correctly, are going to be challenging to keep going."
For example, instead of simply saying they will cut down on social media use, people should put specific plans and processes in place, such as using an app that restricts time on those sites, she said.
Other strategies
People should also consider starting a new behavior rather than stopping an old one, Albers said. For instance, in trying to eat healthier, it is better to make the goal of eating three vegetables each day than to stop eating sugar, she said.
"Research suggests that it's a lot easier to start a new behavior than to put the brakes on or stop an old behavior," she said.
A 2020 study found that 58.9% of people accomplished new-behavior goals, versus 47.1% who managed to stop old behaviors.
Another strategy, Albers said, is to take small steps to meet larger goals.
She also recommends habit stacking — taking an existing behavior and pairing it with a new desired habit. For example, if someone already enjoys drinking a cup of coffee every morning, they can link that routine to a new habit by going for a morning walk right afterward. The established behavior serves as a reminder and trigger for the new one, Albers said.
Overcoming plateaus
While some people might make progress toward their resolutions through the first few months of the year, Albers said there are steps to take if they see setbacks or find themselves stuck at a plateau.
First, it is important to reassess goals, she said.
"Break them down into smaller steps," Albers said. "It's likely that that the goal is unrealistic or it's not manageable in the current setting. So looking at your environment, what are some of the things that will help to help support the change?"
She also recommended having social support to help overcome any setbacks in meeting resolutions.
"When you have people in your life who are supporting your goals, checking in with you, cheerleading for you, this is when we start to really make some changes," Albers said.
She said visualizing success also can help overcome setbacks or plateaus.
"This is a good time to close your eyes," Albers said. "If we walk through our goal in our minds and visualize that success, it will bring us closer to feeling like we can do this. We can make a change."
