How to nail your New Year’s resolutions

The idea of promising ourselves that we'll do things differently in the year to come can trigger mixed feelings, says David Robson, but when approached correctly, new year's resolutions can boost our motivation and be a positive way to start a new year.

Like many of us, Robson has a "checkered history" when it comes to keeping his own resolutions, but has become "pretty good" at it over the years.

"I think that's partly because I [now] know about the psychology of self-control and willpower", he tells RNZ's Summer Weekends.

Many people feel like breaking their resolution proves that they lack the willpower to commit to a goal, and therefore lose all hope, Robson says.

One of the most important steps towards keeping a New Year's resolution is not catastrophising when you inevitably fall off the wagon.

Occasionally stepping out of line does not mean you've undone days of hard work, he says.

"This is something that psychologists call the 'what the hell effect'. 

"It's this quite toxic tendency that we have that, once we break a resolution, we just give up entirely." 

Many of us tend to set goals that are shaped by cultural pressures that encourage us to be very self-critical, Robson says.

Yet trying to meet standards of beauty and success manufactured by media, social media and lifestyle magazines only encourages people to feel poorly about themselves. 

"A lot of the time, we're not really thinking about what we want in life, but we're doing these things because we have those goals kind of imposed on us." 

Psychological research has shown that resolutions stemming from societal pressure are not only bad for our mental health, Robson says, but also harder to keep, whereas goals chosen purely using our own autonomy are easier to keep as they matter more to us. 

Although some may feel there's no need to wait for 31 December to make a resolution, Robson believes there is some "magic" in setting new goals at this time. 

The desire to start fresh as a new year begins is actually a documented psychological phenomenon related to how we process autobiographical memories. 

"What psychologists have found is that we actually do tend to look at our life as a series of chapters that are very often based around big life events." 

Significant life events, like graduating or getting married, act as the landmarks of our life journey, Robson says. And research has shown that within the bigger chapters, people also create smaller "chapter headings". The start of a new year is one of them. 

"Research shows us that, when people do make new goals at those key moments, like the first [day] of the year, they do tend to have more motivation. 

"The brain is always looking for this organisational principle, a way to chunk that data into meaningful sections." 

The scale of your New Year's resolutions is a matter of personal preference, Robson says, but "balance" is a good thing to keep in mind.

"I think there is this kind of sweet spot between something that's so mundane you quickly forget about it, and something that's so ambitious it feels unmanageable." 

Bigger goals are best broken down into smaller 'sub goals', he says.

"If you do want to write your novel over the course of 2026, I think it's essential that you make a plan for how you're going to go about that, because you're really then creating these little stepping stones that feel far less daunting to achieve." 

Telling people about New Year's resolutions can be helpful, Robson says, as it creates a sense of accountability that makes sticking to goals easier. 

"I know some people are going to be quite pessimistic and gloomy, and they're just going to sap some of that excitement away from it, but I think if you do have people who can be your cheerleaders, then it's great to share it with them." 

Robson's own resolution for 2026 is to run a marathon. One of his tricks to ensure that happens is what he calls "temptation bundling". 

"That is just making sure that, when something starts to feel like a grind, you have some kind of pleasure that you experience alongside that. In my case, it'll be listening to really great audiobooks as I go about my training." 

The more specific your goal, the easier it will be to stick to, Robson says.

With the popular resolution to slim down or get fit, for example, it's better to set a specific target weight and have a workout plan so the task doesn't feel vague and daunting.

"Just make it measurable because that way it's easier to keep track of your progress and, when you do meet that goal, you get that dopamine kick that leaves you feeling motivated." 

We need to be wary of how marketers try to cash in on our insecurities during this time, Robson says.

"You'll always read in a new magazine about a particular kind of exercise that's going to have these magic properties for you, or you'll start seeing new photos of a particular muscle group that you're meant to be developing." 

It's important to protect ourselves from falling prey to this kind of targeted marketing, he says, and instead set goals based on our personal well-being and journey.