Revolutionize Your New Year: Expert Strategies for Habit Formation and Lifestyle Transformation

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A new year frequently brings about resolutions aimed at enhancing health, establishing new habits or altering one’s behavior. To more effectively accomplish these adjustments, Brittney Schrick, extension associate professor and family life specialist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, suggests formulating SMART goals, ensuring they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-sensitive.

One of the most significant obstacles individuals encounter when attempting to adopt a new habit is “anticipating to be flawless right from the start,” Schrick stated.

“Too often, if we ‘fail’ in some aspect, we tend to give up,” she noted. “What gets overlooked here is the concept that practice is essential. It cannot be an all-or-nothing mindset, and that is typically how we approach New Year’s resolutions. Allow yourself some grace and provide yourself the chance to start over multiple times.”

According to Schrick, change does not have to occur on a Monday or at the beginning of a month or year. It can be initiated anytime, on any day. “You can simply decide, ‘I need to recommit to that,’” she remarked.

Establishing SMART goals

Schrick endorses creating SMART goals: those that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-sensitive.

Specific and Measurable: “Your goal must not be just something vague like, ‘I need to become healthier,’” Schrick advised. “That’s not particularly beneficial. However, if you refine it to ‘I want to consume more vegetables, so I will attempt to include them in two meals each day,’ then that becomes clear enough to monitor easily.”

Attainable: Schrick suggested individuals should pursue goals that are not overly ambitious or unrealistic. “It should be something that can genuinely be accomplished,” Schrick stated. “If you’ve never run a day in your life, yet declare, ‘This summer, I’m going to run a marathon,’ you might be able to do it, but you’re likely setting yourself up for disappointment. However, you’re more likely to complete a 5k race by the summer.”

Relevant: Identifying a true incentive that resonates within one’s life and aspirations is crucial in progressing toward a goal. “It should be something you genuinely wish to accomplish,” Schrick affirmed. “There needs to be a motivating factor that extends beyond, ‘I want to look better in a swimsuit by summer’ or ‘My mother advised me to improve my health.’ It needs to hold personal significance for you.”

Time-sensitive: The objective must include an endpoint or a deadline, indicating whether it is achieved or not. “It can be your goal to meet it on a daily basis,” Schrick mentioned. “It doesn’t have to be an aim set far into the future. If your objective is to consume two portions of vegetables daily, yet you miss it one day, that doesn’t mean you have to quit. You can simply try again the next day.”

Consider beyond physical health

Although physical wellness often becomes the focal point of many New Year’s resolutions, Schrick indicated that it is beneficial to contemplate other modifications that can positively influence mental and emotional well-being.

“While enhancing our physical well-being is a commendable goal, frequently, what occurs is that we abandon these goals when we fail to see results promptly,” Schrick commented.

Setting a goal to read additional books, reaching out more often to friends, or spending extra time in nature are all transitions that can foster positive feelings from the inside out.

“I also appreciate the notion of altering our perspectives on matters,” Schrick said. “Choosing to be kinder to yourself or to speak more kindly to yourself in your thoughts can yield significant benefits. Attempt to catch your negative thoughts before they escalate into self-criticism.”

“Simply identifying and rephrasing some of those words can have a substantial effect, which you may not recognize the advantages of until it becomes relevant,” she added. “It might take months of practice before you realize, ‘Oh wow, my initial thought wasn’t negative this time.’ That can prove to be quite advantageous.”

Choosing to organize one’s living environment more consistently can also considerably influence mental health, and Schrick highlighted that it serves as a beneficial exercise in forming a new habit overall. This is a valuable objective to establish as a family, and tracking can be done using a chore chart or other visual progress tools.

“Engage in discussions with your children regarding how you all occupy this space, so that you’ll distribute the effort required to maintain cleanliness,” Schrick remarked. “Perhaps establish a shared incentive for achieving it. ‘If we can keep the home tidy and accomplish all our goals this week, then we can order pizza on Friday night’ — whatever suits your family.”

“Just having those collective goals and that visual tracker aids in holding each other accountable to ensure tasks are completed,” Schrick stated.

For additional information and resources regarding family life, visit the Cooperative Extension Service’s Personal and Family Well-Being webpage.