A new year means a year of new resolutions. According to Pew Research Center's 2022 survey report, 3 in 10 people worldwide make New Year's resolutions. According to this report, some common resolutions are as follows-
- We will stop smoking cigarettes.
- We will exercise daily from now on.
- Let's lose weight.
- Do not eat junk food.
- We will not wake up until midnight, we will sleep early.
- We will organize the work more.
- We will not spend unnecessarily, we will save money.
- Learn a new skill or hobby.
There is nothing new in this that you haven't heard before, but every year people make this common resolution and forget all about it as soon as the first month of the year passes.
As per the above report, some interesting facts with resolution
The truth is that you have made a resolution, but it is difficult to stick to it. What to do so that it becomes a part of the routine. So let's find out the answer to this question.
So what's your New Year's resolution? Let's start with an example. Suppose your New Year's resolution is to walk for half an hour every day after dinner. Now how about fulfilling this little promise to yourself. Is there any science to this? Let us try to understand this.
What is the science of habit? Dr. Andrew Huberman is a professor of neuroscience at Stanford University. Thus he explains the science of habit in very simple terms. Suppose, you went for a walk after dinner on the first day of the year. This action gave a sense of success. Neurons in the brain release happy messages. You feel good. You repeat this process for the next three days, but then the feeling of happiness and success you get from it slowly starts to wane.
On the fifth day you forget to walk. On the sixth day, your brain starts making excuses that you are too tired today, there is more work today. Let it be today. On the seventh day, there is a conflict between the two parts of the brain and it takes a lot of effort to walk around after dinner.
After just 10 days, the resolution file is deleted from the brain's desktop and goes into the recycle bin. Now the thought will no longer be part of the brain's active memory.
to habit of active memory How to create part? The answer to this question is found in James Clear's best-selling book 'Atomic Habits'. “To make any habit a part of your daily life, you must focus not on the goal but on the process of doing it,” he writes.
For example, take a walk after dinner. What do we have to do to continue doing this work 365 days a year without any interruption? Let's understand –
Goal: Walk every night after dinner.
Procedure – Having dinner on time, mentally preparing yourself for the walk, putting on shoes, leaving the house and deciding where to walk.
Understand the process-
According to James Clear, before deciding to take a walk after dinner, we have to recognize the process and incorporate it into our daily routine.
- For example, it may be decided that dinner should be at a fixed time each day. It shouldn't be like eating at 7 o'clock one day and 10 o'clock the next.
- It may not be safe to go out after a late night meal. So, dinner time should be decided according to walking time.
- If you stay at home wearing comfortable clothes like boxers, shorts, nighties, chances are you feel lazy even thinking about getting dressed while going out. So this thing should be decided in mind already. We should already get ready in pajamas and t-shirts, so that the extra burden of changing clothes does not fall on the mind.
- Walking shoes should be placed in front, which will remind you that it is time to walk.
- Any work like phone call, video call, meeting or calling a friend at home should not be scheduled at that time so that the mind is not distracted for any reason.
- When and how the dinner will be prepared, what will happen, what are the necessary things, the whole process should be decided in advance so that it does not happen that the brain has to work hard at the last minute. To decide what to prepare for dinner today and what is the food?
- For example, if you listen to a podcast while walking, decide in advance what you're going to listen to today. So once you put on your shoes and step out of the house, your brain doesn't have to work too hard to decide what to listen to today.
- Which road or park to walk and which route to take should also be decided in advance.
- Overall, it means to prepare the brain to focus only on that task at that moment.
- Our brains are instructed to go for a walk after dinner. So during that time, there should be no other work around, due to which the mind gets distracted, fatigued and deviated from its main goal.
- To do this, it is necessary to identify and simplify this entire process in advance.
How long does it take for a fresh start to become a habit? According to a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it can take anywhere from 18 days to 254 days for anything new to become part of our habit.
The Science of Motivation and Repetition Dr. Huberman explains that converting anything new into a habit requires that it become part of our active memory. For this two things are required –
- Repetition
- Limbic friction means that the task should not involve too much effort or stress.
Let's understand it in simple terms like this. Like we wake up every morning and brush our teeth. Doing this does not require any effort and does not strain the brain. It does this very easily. The reason for this is repetition. Because our brain is used to it. We have done this thousands of times. All the neuron connections that make this activity possible are formed within the brain. So, now while brushing, the brain works in passive mode.
Both things are here – repetition and no tension.
But brushing a three-year-old child takes a lot of effort because this activity activates the limbic friction of his body. The brain works hard to process it.
Three things essential to habits According to James Clear, in order to make anything new a habit, three things must be done in the beginning –
Going for a walk after dinner. After four days, if you are tired of going on the fifth day, then you have to push yourself. This will require motivation. Do this for that motivation-
Keep writing on your door, study table, fridge why morning walk is necessary. Any three major benefits you are trying to develop this habit for. such as-
If Limbic Friction Mod If on, the action cannot be changed into a habit Dr. Huberman says that with motivation we can force ourselves to do a good habit, but even if the body is in limbic mode while doing it, meaning it's working too hard and the body feels constant stress, we should stick with it. In such a situation we should take care of three things –
Start small – Always start with a habit that is not difficult to do, that can be easily completed. Repeat this habit for 30 consecutive days.
Awards – After every small achievement, praise and reward yourself for it.
Self Compassion– There will be times when you fail. In such a situation, be kind to yourself without beating yourself up and make a fresh start.
So try to follow this resolution in this new year. You will definitely get success.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).