Wake Forest University Professor’s Research Helps People Meet Resolutions

Wake Forest University Professor’s Research Helps People Meet Resolutions

December 29, 2011 | Keri Brown

In a recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, E.J. Masicampo, Assistant Professor at Wake Forest University found that committing to a specific plan to accomplish a goal not only makes it more likely to be done, but it also gets it off of your mind so you can think about other things.
He said some essential elements of a successful plan include, specifying what exactly you are going to do and how often you are going to do it and creating specific opportunities to meet your goal in situations that are likely to occur.

"People don't realize how caught up in the moment that they are going to get and how strongly those temptations will be, so one thing is not putting yourself in situations where you are going to have to resist the difficult things. Also,a make plans to do things that you know you are actually going to be able do, so not saying I'm going to run three miles in the morning when you are not used to running that far. You need to start small and say something like I'm going to go for a 5 to 10 minute walk. That way, when it actually comes around it is not going to seem so difficult that you are not going to want to do it it will sem easy, sort of knowing what you can do," said Masicampo.
Masicampo said keeping resolutions is often about creating new habits. He encourages people to picture themselves carrying out their plan.
Masicampo said imagining doing a task has a similar effect on the brain as really doing it.