HAPPY NEW YEAR! Are you thinking about improving your fitness for the new year? Here is a terrific article from Psychology Today that summarizes a great deal of research about New Year’s Resolutions.
Here are a few highlights:
- People live on average seven years longer if they exercise, eat healthy food, don’t smoke, and drink alcohol moderately (or less).
- 55% of resolutions are health related.
- Although people tend to believe that both importance and enjoyment will matter for the likelihood of keeping resolutions, only enjoyment does (the advice is obvious here).
- When we consider exercise as a conscious choice between what we ought to do and what we want to do, “want” will win. Instead, use the environment to highlight exercise, making it less likely that you will consciously consider the alternatives. For example, set out your exercise clothes in a prominent location that you can’t miss. Or find an exercise buddy who will encourage you to go to the gym.
- It will take some time, but once the exercise habit is established, you won’t have to make that conscious choice every day. That is the point of a habit after all.
Check it out here at Psychology Today.
