How to make New Year's resolutions feel more do-able, and the science on why it works
Happy New Year! I hope that whatever your Christmas-time and New Year were like, that this short episode will be a cheering thing to listen to in these first days of 2024.
Health and nutrition shows up in so many people’s new year resolutions, so it seems only sensible to talk about them.
But let me offer you a slightly different take, on how to make it all a little easier, and more joyful.
I'll also share some of the research on why this approach works.
References:
Berkman, E.T., 2018. The Neuroscience of Goals and Behavior Change. Consult Psychol J 70, 28–44.
Falk, E.B., O’Donnell, M.B., Cascio, C.N., Tinney, F., Kang, Y., Lieberman, M.D., Taylor, S.E., An, L., Resnicow, K., Strecher, V.J., 2015. Self-affirmation alters the brain’s response to health messages and subsequent behavior change. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 112, 1977–1982.
Pandey P, Kang Y, Cooper N, O'Donnell MB, Falk EB. Social networks and neural receptivity to persuasive health messages. Health Psychol. 2021 Apr;40(4):285-294.