Professor Benjamin Gardner, a chartered psychologist and expert in habits and behaviour change, says making small lifestyle changes ahead of time will build your confidence and give you time to ‘test the water’ on new habits before doing it ‘for real’ in the New Year.
This means you are more likely to stick to your resolution than if you try to make drastic and overly challenging changes on January 1st.
This also helps prevent the ‘all-or-nothing mentality’ that often leads to frustration and failure when perfection isn’t achieved right away.
It comes as new research from global healthcare company, Novo Nordisk, revealed 43 per cent of adults will deviate from their New Year’s goals within a month.
A lack of motivation (41 per cent), life getting in the way (39 per cent), and being too difficult to maintain (25 per cent) are the key reasons for failure.
Professor Gardner said: “There is a lot of pressure to make changes on New Year’s Day.
“But the day before, New Year’s Eve, is one of the biggest celebrations of the year, so to go from that to suddenly introducing changes to the way you live is one of the reasons so many fail to stick to behaviour changes in January.
“Many people wake up on New Year’s Day not ready to embrace change.
“The key is all about readiness, so anything you can do before the change of the calendar year can help habits stand the test of time.”
It comes after the poll of 2,000 adults revealed 53 per cent said soft-launching resolutions as early as November could help them stick to them.
The main reason for introducing new routines before the turn of the year was in the hope it would help them to settle into healthy habits (32 per cent).
Whereas 27 per cent said ‘soft launching’ their resolution made January less of a struggle – and 20 per cent did so because they wanted to feel good before Christmas.
The study, conducted via OnePoll for Novo Nordisk, found 21 per cent of adults feel sluggish after the festive period – and 42 per cent feel the pressure of undoing the effects of the holidays.
But according to Professor Gardner, it’s this feeling that can be the undoing of good intentions in the new year.
He added: “One of the reasons why people think 1st January is the best time to take a fresh start is because it’s a new year.
“However, the circumstances of the New Year are often not very conducive to changing behaviours.
“It’s cold and miserable, the weather isn’t great, and you’re not really energised to make the best changes – there can be a lot of pressure to make the changes because other people are, but sometimes it has the opposite effect.
“As a result of everyone else doing it, you may end up committing to something you don’t really want to do, which is why soft-launching a resolution is a good idea as it gives you a chance to test the waters.”
“If you want the ‘fresh start’ effect, there’s no reason to wait until the New Year. Instead, you can make changes at the start of a new week or month, or simply at the start of your day.”
Despite societal pressure to commit to New Year’s resolutions, it was found 50 per cent admitted to putting pressure on themselves to fulfil their goals.
More than a third (34 per cent) said dropping their resolutions made them feel disappointed in themselves – and 26 per cent admitted they felt guilty for not trying harder.
It was also found the most common resolutions among Brits are eating healthier (46 per cent), exercising more (46 per cent), and saving money (42 per cent).
But 15 per cent admitted they have tried to reduce screen time, which Professor Gardner thinks is a great example of a habit which can be soft launched in the festive season.
He added: “Taking a digital detox is a great thing to try to start in November and December before the new year, as we typically spend time with family and friends over the festive period, so it’s a good opportunity to connect with others rather than our devices”.
“The resolutions that work best to be launched earlier than the new year are the ones that aren’t too disruptive to the flow of the festivities.”
