Great News About New Year’s Resolutions in 2023

Resolutions are traditionally tricky. They are basically goals — and as biased as I am (my doctoral research was on goal-setting), the research for goal-setting is mixed, at best. As author James Clear aptly stated in his book Atomic Habits, everyone in the Olympics has the same exact goal — to win the gold. Yet only a few do. What’s more, study after study shows that just 30 days in, goals alone won’t do it, and 80% of us have already given up on our resolutions. There are hacks, of course; here is an article on 5 science-based strategies that do work for sticking to your resolutions.

But that’s that. This isn’t an article on sticking to resolutions. I’ve done those, there are several on this website, and one person emailed me 365 days later after reading one to let me know he stuck to his resolution for every single day of the year. It was a simple strategy which he did to perfection.

This, though, is about something even more exciting. More encouraging. A new Forbes Health/OnePoll survey found that overall, 45% of respondents noted an improvement in mental health as one of their top New Year’s resolutions, compared to 39% who said improved fitness, 37% who want to lose weight, and 33% who cited improved diet.

Mental well-being has become my #1 passion. Think about it like this — if you are in a car crash and you fracture your knee, you rightfully ambulance off to the hospital, and they put you at the top of the list, and you are immediately treated. It’s of the highest priorities. If your mental well-being is fractured, that doesn’t just harm you; there is collateral damage to all of those around you. Your mental well-being should be your highest priority. But so many of us never even click on it. We just accept that life is difficult and there is nothing we can do about what’s in our head. The truth is your mental fitness is not only more important than your physical (why live forever if you live miserably); it is more plastic. It is more ready for change with some work.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate to get to interview some of the world’s leading psychologists and MDs in well-being. Here they are.

https://www.spiveyblog.com/posts/well-being-podcasts

Pick just one if you wish. But if there is one worthwhile resolution that appears to be catching on, it is investing in yourself. It’s an investment I made years ago, and it has been the best of my life.

– Mike Spivey

We are our own griefs. We are our own happinesses. We are our own remedies.