There’s been a lot of resolution bashing this year, with critics claiming resolutions don’t work, listing anecdotes of failed resolutions and suggesting more lofty soul quenching resolutions like learning to appreciate nature and your body.

Appreciating your body is great, but how do you turn it into a daily practice? And what if you actually have a practical resolution that you want to keep?

I say stick it to the resolution nay-sayers and turn your resolution into a habit!

Introducing Charles Duhigg’s habit loop…
The psychological tool that will help you figure out how to stick to your resolutions and move the behaviour from System 2 (the slow way of thinking) to System 1 (automated doing).

This year I’ve resolved to meditate every day, so I’ll use that as an example to walk you through the three steps of forming a successful habit loop.

1. Cue your resolution – The cue is like a reminder that will trigger you to remember to act on your resolution. It’s best to link your resolution to a cue that already happens in your routine so that you don’t forget to act on the resolution and don’t just stop doing it after you turn off your reminder. Alternatively if you’ve resolved to break a habit, try substituting a reward or new behaviour for the old behaviour that satisfies your craving. The most important thing is to try to find a cue that happens at the same frequency as your resolution.

I like to meditate in the morning for 10 minutes, and I’m addicted to coffee and I know I won’t forget to have coffee. So I’m going to cue the meditation to the coffee making. My coffee takes about 10 minutes to boil on the stove so I’ll aim to start meditating immediately after I’ve put the coffee on. Cue sorted!

2. Make your resolution routine – This is where your turn the behaviour into a habit or routine. Old research suggest that a behaviour needed to be repeated 21 days to become a habit, but a more recent study in 2009 by the University College London suggests that you actually need to repeat the behaviour for an average of 66 days to form a habit.

My meditation resolution is to form a daily habit, so that means I’ll need to be consciously practicing the cue and reward behaviour until at least the 7th March 2019 before the behaviour becomes habitualised by your subconscious brain.

3. Reward your resolution – If you’re habit is already satisfying a craving, then you may have already rewarded yourself. For example if you go for a run you may come home with runners high and that’s reward enough. However, you can also add in an extra incentive and reward yourself with something else like a drink or food item that you like.

By the time I’ve finished meditating my coffee will be ready and waiting for me on the stove, so I’m going to reward myself with a coffee. Hooray!

And if this doesn’t work, maybe reassess the objective of your resolution in the first place. Good luck! And I look forward to hearing how your resolution has become a no brainer in April.