Analysis of planning Psychology

Why do people make many new Year plans and then quickly forget about them?

At the end of 2012, Fess Vata Muslou decided to quit her job and start a clothing business by the end of 2013.

She submitted her resignation letter to her employer in February; in July, she started her career with a bang: the CEO of Frost's lovely fashion company.

Ms. Slu is one of the few people who can continue to implement their New Year's resolutions after Easter "1."

Take another look at Feng Gar, when she decided to become a vegan in 2013, she thought it would be as easy as a stroll. But soon, when the friends were enjoying the ice cream and the goat row, she found herself drooling; she gave up.

She said, "It's so hard!" January 18 I gave up the new Year's plan. ”

So why do people make New Year plans every year and then forget about them in the second week of January?

The winner.

Richard Wiseman, of the University of Bristol "2" in 2007, studied 3,000 people and found that 88% of the people who made the new Year's plan failed, although 52% of them felt Wiseman at first.

The goal-setting man's chances of reaching a goal increase by 22%. A woman's success rate can be increased by 10% if she exposes her goals and gets the support of her friends.

Research published by John Norcross and his colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, "3", shows that about 50% of people have new plans for each new year, "says Knox, a researcher.

The New Year's plan is a good thing that people set out to start doing on the first day of the year or something bad to stop doing.

The origins of ambiguity

The origins of the New Year's plan are not clear, but Wikipedia says the ancient Babylonians began to swear to their gods every year that they would return the borrowed goods and repay the debts.

It is said that the ancient Romans at the beginning of the new Year to Janus God "4" promise. And every year January is based on the name of the God.

In the Middle Ages, Knights held the "Peacock oath" ceremony at the end of each Christmas season, once again pledging to hold on to the knight's spirit.

New Year's resolutions in contemporary society include health-related issues such as healthy eating, weight loss, increased workout time, reduced alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, stopping biting the nails and kicking off some of the old bad habits.

Others involve spirituality, finance, careers, education, travel, volunteering, getting along with people, making new friends, spending more time and caring people, getting married, and so on.

As for U.S. President Barack Obama, his New Year's plan is to be a little better for the White House press corps.

Photographers, in particular, have complained about not taking pictures of the president. The White House only agreed to publish pictures of "posing" to create some image of America's first family.

For Ms Muslou, in her 2014-year plan, she plans to develop her fashion career into a company that can provide clothing to people from the president to the civilian world. She has started dating and hopes to get married in 2014 years.

Ms. Rose's New Year's resolution was to better manage its finances in 2014 and to start her own fashion line.

Head above the top

Psychologist Chris Hart says most people set goals that are not up to reach and are not a new Year's plan. "It's like getting married in the year and winning the lottery," Dr. Hart said. These are not decisions, but desires. ”

He suggested that "the goals of the New Year's plan must be controllable, practical, realistic and positive." ”

Ms. Slu said she was even determined to meet Mr Kibaki's "5" to congratulate him on his good economic performance in Kenya.

She did it two weeks ago. Although Mr Kibaki has been out of office for nine months.

But how did she do it? " (I just) concentrate and believe that what others can do is better. The secret of success is to focus on one thing and give up everything. And that's when you find your reason for being. ”

In the book "Happiness Lesson", Italian writer Frank Radium believes that the plan to share with others will be easier to stick with, and that the people you share can either be the people you share the benefits with, or the people you can share with.

"The success rate of the New Year's plan will be influenced by peer support," he said. ”

Christina Lan, a psychologist at the psychological counseling department in Nairobi, agrees that most people have too much appetite in setting new Year's resolutions.

Plan to be specific

"I suggest people choose a goal, focus on it, and crystallize it," Ms. Lan Ju said. In other words, if your New Year's plan is to quit smoking in 2014, you have to explain in which one months to complete. If you're losing weight, you have to be specific to how much weight you lose and how long it takes. ”

"The Psychology of Today" "6" quotes from the Canadian University of Carlton psychology professor Timothy Pi Cours's view that the New Year's plan is a "cultural procrastination", is an attempt to reinvent themselves.

He thinks people make plans to motivate themselves. But he asserts that people are often not ready to change their habits, especially those that are bad habits, and that is why the new Year's failure rate is high.

Professor Peter Herman and his colleagues have identified the psychological state they call "false hope syndrome", which means that their plans are extremely unrealistic and inconsistent with their inner perceptions of themselves.

This principle reflects the principle of positive affirmation. When one's positive affirmation of oneself is the kind that oneself cannot believe, those who certainly not only are not good, but also harmful self-respect.

Dr. Hart advises people to dream big, but plan to be specific.

"Write down your plans, and at the end of each item, specify the specific tasks you need to accomplish and add a detailed schedule." ”

Choose your target carefully

At the same time, he wants people to choose their goals carefully and make choices in life.

"A lot of people want everything," he said. For example, want to become rich, but the car and new mobile phone and mouth-watering. You can't have your cake and eat it! If you want to be rich, you have to save money. You can't buy a lot of things until you reach your goal. ”

Lan Ju also said that if you want to achieve your New Year's resolutions, you must be prepared to make sacrifices. "Most of us want to change our lives, but at the same time we want to be comfortable," she says.

"If your friend calls you to a bar where your family smokes, and your goal is to quit smoking, you have to be prepared to sacrifice the pleasure of going to that bar," she said. ”

Experts say that people refuse to try some of these programs because they look complicated and the pain of stopping a habit. But actually it's not that complicated.

Hold on to the end

Changing a habit takes about three weeks and is usually difficult, Dr. Hart says. Often people fail because they don't want to stick to it.

"You will experience anxiety, confusion, loss of motivation and self-doubt," he said. But these are signs of progress. If you insist, you may realize your New Year's plan. ”

Ms. Lan Ju's view is similar. She advises people to look at the benefits of accomplishing the project.

She said, "foresee the future and tell yourself," If I quit smoking, my chest tightness and cough would be reduced and my breath would be fresher. ' This will motivate you to keep working hard. ”

On the other hand, the psychologist also warns people not to think about the fruit, but to forget to make the basic plan: the activities needed to achieve the goal.

"You must understand: The road to quitting is long," she said. You can't just stare at the results. You have to understand: for example, you have to start reducing the number of smokers every week. ”

Final results

Dr Hart also advises people to focus on behavior, not on results. So if you want to lose weight, don't weigh every day, instead, focus on what you're eating and how long you've been exercising.

Arrange your things according to the principle of changing service. For example, put your pajamas in a conspicuous place to remind yourself to go to bed early.

To find a suitable goal, Dr. Hart argues, you need to reflect on your life for the past year first.

He suggested using a checklist: "Have you completed the plan for the beginning?" Were you healthier, happier, or more successful than a year ago? Do you like yourself more? If the answer is ' yes ', you are on the right track. But if you feel a dilemma, you need to ask yourself what things to change. In the final analysis, how can you make progress by repeating the same thing?

In the opinion of Ms Lan, another reason for the failure of the New Year's plan is the causal link.

You might think that if you succeed in losing weight, or reducing debt, or exercising more time, your whole life will change. So when the actual situation is unsatisfactory, you may be discouraged and then regress to the old pattern of behavior.

Reconnect the brain.

The psychology of today says that the most fundamental thing about planning is to change behavior, and to change behavior, you have to change your mind and "reconnect" to the brain.

American brain scientists such as Antonio Damacio and Joseph Le Dour, as well as psychologists Stephen Heiss, have discovered by using MRI techniques that human habitual behavior is caused by neural pathways and memories that are caused by thinking patterns. These neural pathways and memories are the basis of your behavior default when you face choices or decisions.

If you want to change the default mode of thinking by "Don't want to do this", you're just hardening the default thinking. To really change, you need to create new neural pathways through new thinking patterns.

So, have you made your own New Year's plan for 2014 years?

{Original Author: Kenfulli Chiberen, original published in the national daily "7" website}

Nasa】

1. Easter (Easter Holiday): Common Christian Easter in western countries, usually in the March or April of every year.

2. University of Bristol (University of Bristol), a leading institution in the UK.

3. The Journal of Clinical Psychology (jounal of clinical Psychology) is a peer-reviewed journal of Psychology in the United States.

4. Janus (Janus), the god of gods in Roman mythology, and the two-sided deities, are depicted as having two faces or four sides four faces, symbolizing the beginning. The English whose of the January originated from Janus (Janus).

5. Mwai (Mwai kibaki,1931), President Ninkenia between December 2002 and April 2013.

6. Psychology Today (psychology) is a bi-monthly journal of Psychology for the masses in the United States.

7. The national daily (Nation) is a powerful independent newspaper in Kenya and the largest circulation newspaper in East Africa.