Brian Gubernick argues resolutions work better as approach goals, like eating more broccoli, which succeed 59% of the time versus 47% for avoidance goals like quitting candy. He suggests setting fewer, attainable objectives rather than chasing unattainable ones that harm mental health.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick and welcome to the No Days Off podcast where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Today I want to talk about New Year's resolutions. Many of us have set them. I have not. I am not a huge fan of New Year's resolutions. Not because I think that anybody's wrong for doing them. I just think that we should always be aspiring to get better, right? I don't need a new year to start that. No days off. I mean, it's kind of what it's all about, getting, getting a slight bit better every single day. But I do love the idea, the concept behind the New Year's resolution as it pertains to a landmark date that gives us more meaning around starting a new goal. In other words, it's a fresh start. In the Morning Brew, which is a newsletter that comes out every morning, if you don't get it, it's actually really great, quick read, gives you an idea as to what's going on in the world, current events and, and things like that. Last week in the Morning Brew, there was some research around the fresh start, like the landmark date, like for example, the start of a new year, and how a landmark date, a fresh start actually leads to greater success with your goals. There was some research in there that indicated that in a study, when individuals were given a landmark date instead of a random one, the likelihood of them starting a new goal was substantially higher than if they had just pulled a random date. So like a meaningful date prompts people into action. I like this. Temporal landmarks work because they allow you to distance yourself from the old and create new. Or put in terms of the, the studies I'm referencing, people's strengthened motivation to begin pursuing their aspirations following such temporal landmarks originates in part from the psychological disassociation these landmarks induce from a person's past imperfect self. This is coming out of the studies. What is the conclusions they drew? In other words, a fresh start allows you to close the book on one chapter and start the next. So for that reason, I can get behind the New Year's resolution if it prompts you into action. Now, as you're, as you're kind of embarking on this New Year's resolution process, I think it's super important that you goal set properly. And I think that starts with how you set goals. There's avoidance goals. And there's approach goals. There's avoidance goals and approach goals. How you pursue it will go a long way. Pursue your goals will go a long way towards whether you achieve the goal or not. So there's two ways to tackle it. So avoidance goals, avoidance goals are things that, you know, kind of like the word says, it's, I'm going to stop eating candy, or I'm going to, going to watch less TV, or I'm going to see less of that person. These are all avoidance goals. There is a lower likelihood of success if your goal is in fact an avoidance one. Instead, if you want more success, especially around New Year's resolutions, make it more about approach goals. So instead of avoiding a behavior, you create a new one. So rather than say, I'm going to avoid candy, maybe it's, I'm going to eat more broccoli. Or I'm going to read more books versus watch less TV. So replace the habits that you want to shake with good habits in this approach goal sort of format. A recent study found that approach goals are more likely to be accomplished, 59% as a matter of fact, more likely to be accomplished than avoidance goals across a wide range of potential resolutions. Avoidance goals were at 47% accomplishment. Approach goals were at 59%. So if you're in the New Year's resolutions, if you're doing it right now, if you're underway or you're about to embark on your New Year's resolutions, take a look at those goals that you've set. Are they in fact avoidance or approach? And if they're in fact avoidance goals, maybe we ought to consider shifting them to more of an approach sort of mindset. Now lastly, around goals, because we talk a lot about goal setting here. But one thing that I recently read that I found pretty interesting around goal setting was this idea that maybe we should set fewer goals and just simply pursue excellence. Instead of setting so many goals, how about we just pursue excellence? So many, many people will tell you that goal setting actually could do more harm for you than it does good because you, you maybe strive for this goal, then you don't achieve this goal and it, It leads to some sort of feeling, and many people have been derailed for a period of time before they got back on the horse and, you know, got back into motion. I'm not saying not to set goals because of fear of striking out, but it is an interesting question. What if I just pursued excellence? So in other words, instead of saying I'm going to, you know, read X number of books this year, what if it looked like I'm going to understand this concept of which reading a certain quantity of books is going to lead you towards understanding, or listening to something around that subject will lead you to understanding. So less goals potentially and more pursuit of excellence, less impact on self-esteem and more impact on development of your mind and, and your thought process. Because unattainable goals can actually wreck your mental health. There is lots of research around, um, setting unattainable goals, you know, frozen goals that people, you know, put out there. Um, and they experience all sorts of symptoms of stress and anxiety and depression. Increased anxiety was associated with goal unattainability. And it just challenges the conventional mindset around goal setting. Now, I am one for goals. I am one for setting goals that are reasonable, but, but the reason I believe we set goals is not necessarily to achieve those goals, but again, to create the habits, create the structure, the environment, the steps necessary to become excellent in whatever it is we're doing. And maybe, just maybe, we achieve that goal along the way. I think it's a slightly nuanced way of looking at goals. It's not about achieving a specific score. It's about getting better every single day. No surprise again, hence the No Days Off podcast formula. So New Year's resolutions, to kind of wrap this up, New Year's resolutions, it's not a bad idea for it. You know, for some it creates a fresh start. Fresh starts allow us for a chapter break. You know, break from who we were yesterday and who we want to become tomorrow. So maybe it's the right fit for you. If in fact you're setting New Year's resolutions, make sure you're focused on approach goals versus avoidance goals. And it may be worth considering, you know, creating goals that are in fact attainable, or maybe even scrapping the goal idea and just seeking whatever excellence includes in that particular subject. Pursue excellence. That's all I have for you today in the No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.
