Achieving your New Year’s Resolutions: The Margins Principle

People state New Year’s Resolutions (“stop drinking”, “stop smoking”, “lose 30 pounds”, …) to make a big improvement in their life. Famously, most fail. This issue is not isolated to decisions made on New Year’s Day or to people trying to make themselves better. There are deeper lessons to be learned: thinking about the margins of adjustment needed in the new routine. If you think about it, the same concerns also apply to a business which is in trouble and thinks that a radical new business plan could save them.

The obvious reason why resolutions fail is that people’s tastes are constrained. Even if you are sincere in your Resolution, you are motivated by many other concerns. Will-power may help you to achieve your Resolution but there is something more because, even if tastes are not a basic principle of economics, tastes are important. The collision between tastes and time or financial constraints is not exactly a conflict: the trade offs created by constraints need to be managed.

The example of trying to lose weight is appropriate. Your Resolution may be intended to improve your appearance or to reduce a long-term health risk. But, losing weight usually implies changing what is eaten and eating is connected to many other motivations (such as nutrition, what the food feels like in your mouth, memories of Mom’s cooking).

Any resolution is intended to change behaviour, not tastes. A change in behaviour is easier: it represents a new routine but routines cannot be turned On or Off. If you think that the resolution is a good idea on New Year’s Day then you should also think that it is a good idea on St. Patrick’s Day, the Summer Solstice or the 234th day of the year (i.e., Aug. 22).

 If the Resolution fails after two months then what changed between Jan. 2 and the week of April 8? Stating a Resolution is dramatic. On April 9, the goal may be the same but you have had many reminders that the Resolution is not the only thing which motivates you.

There is a more hopeful lesson. Even if it is hard to lose 30 lbs. or 15 kg. of body weight in 1 week, the margins principle is a reminder that it is easier to do so over 30 or 43 weeks. Some decisions during the longer period move you closer to your goal and some do not. (In other words, achieving a resolution does not require making the “right” decision every time.) This realistic perspective is also a reminder that, after you complete your Resolution, sustaining the intent of the Resolution requires the same behaviour.

Best wishes for your New Year, regardless of your Resolutions.

Now, it is your turn to write.

• If you have many friends who state their New Year’s Resolution, write them down.
  • If you are a good friend then help them to succeed. Some research [1] [2] shows that people are more likely to succeed if they have the right kind of help from friends. Some of this research shows the importance of external incentives.
  • If you are a scientist then record when they give up and analyse why they gave up then (not earlier or later).
• This discussion of implementing a Resolution by adapting on the margin is said to be ineffective for an alcoholic. What is it about either the tastes or the time or financial constraints on an alcoholic that makes this discussion ineffective?
• Many athletics facilities offer special deals around New Year’s. The obvious reason is to attract users who are motivated by a resolution. Evidence indicates that many new users give up a couple of weeks later. So,
  • What kind of pricing system (a combination of membership fee and fee per use) maximizes a facility’s profit? [1] [2] [3]
  • What kind of pricing system would produce the greatest benefit to the users of a facility? Assume that facility is a not-for-profit organization but not a charity: total revenue must cover the facility’s total cost.