In this episode, Dr. Scott Saad discusses the psychology of New Year's resolutions, and why a positive approach to a goal is more likely to be successful than a negative one. He also talks about his own experience with a New Years Resolution and how he managed to stick to it.
00:00:43.860Approach-Oriented Goals would be framing a goal positively.
00:00:48.140I'd like to exercise so that I can be in better health.
00:00:52.200Approach-Avoidance Goal would be framed negatively.
00:00:55.340I'd like to exercise so I don't become sick.
00:00:59.140So, even though both of these might be equivalent objectives, the frame, either positive approach or negative avoidance,
00:01:08.340ends up having an effect on the likelihood of you sticking to the New Year's resolution.
00:01:15.120Let me just mention, so this is based on, this is in Plus One, the journal, by Martin Oskarsson,
00:01:24.640Per Karbring, Gerhard Anderson, and Alexander Rosenthal, published December 9th, 2020.
00:01:31.300So, let me just, they asked 1,066 people a whole bunch of questions about their New Year's resolutions.
00:01:42.520So, if you adopt a approach avoidance resolution, you will be, by the end of the year, I think it's a one-year timeline,
00:01:53.68058.9% of the people were successful in their New Year's resolution, whereas if they take an avoidance approach, New Year's resolution, 47.1%.
00:02:05.200So, more than 10% higher if you take a positive frame versus a negative frame.
00:02:10.540What are some of the top topics that people, you know, make resolutions about?
00:02:16.980Well, it's not, it's not difficult to imagine what they are.
00:03:23.680Work and studies, tobacco, I'm guessing, stop smoking, consumption-related issues, personal finance, drinking, friends and families, home environment, hobbies, engagement.
00:03:36.600And last on this list, at only 1% is related to love.
00:03:55.520The other thing I was going to mention is some of you know that a few years ago when we were on, you know, during the COVID lockdown, I had lost a lot of weight.
00:04:08.340Many people had asked me then, you know, what was the secret?
00:04:11.120So, let me mention some of these since they very much relate to a lot of the listed New Year's resolutions here in terms of improving your health and so on.
00:04:22.400Bottom line, what I did was I made sure to at least exercise 15,000 steps a day and eat roughly no more than 1,500 calories a day.
00:04:34.220Of course, the key issue here is consistency.
00:04:38.420One of the reasons why I haven't been able to go back to my ideal weight is because I might do five days of dieting and then two days off because, you know, whatever, we're celebrating something.
00:04:51.180Well, during those two days, you end up putting back all the weight that you lost the first five days.
00:04:56.440And so, during COVID, because there was no choice to go anywhere, we were stuck at home.
00:05:01.140And so, I ended up, you know, not having the pull of having to choose where to end up, right, as a restaurant.
00:05:09.620And so, every single day I was consistent.
00:05:12.34018 months later, I had lost 86 pounds.
00:05:15.920I'm a bit heavier now, probably at least 10, 15 pounds heavier, still much better than before I started.
00:05:26.420So, maybe that's my New Year's resolution.
00:05:28.760The other thing I would say, so 15,000 steps a day, which is quite a bit.
00:05:34.140I mean, it takes probably two and a half hours of exercise to maintain 15,000 steps.
00:05:40.760The way that I made sure that I didn't pass 1,500 calories is I used an app.
00:05:46.680Well, my wife used an app where she would enter every single thing into the app.
00:05:53.520So, by the end of the day, I knew exactly what I was accountable to.
00:05:56.900The other thing I would say is behavioral specificity matters.
00:06:00.780Let's suppose you go away on an all-inclusive, all-you-can-eat, you know, vacation.
00:06:07.260If you say, my resolution is to make sure that I don't overeat, well, that is so vague that it becomes very difficult to implement.
00:06:17.600But if you say, hence behavioral specificity, I will never have more than one plate at the buffet, that already is introducing specificity, so it makes it more manageable to actually adhere to the plan.
00:06:32.640So, whatever your goals are, I hope that they prove to be successful.
00:06:37.440Wishing you a fantastic new year, 2026.
00:06:42.580Remember, Suicidal Empathy is going to be available for pre-order soon.
00:06:47.780Make sure to go out and get it because, as I've explained previously, when the book is released on day one,
00:06:54.540all of the accumulated pre-orders are counted as sales on that first day.
00:06:59.940So, if I want to make sure that the book becomes a bestseller, it really is important to have a strong pre-order figures.