Game your brain for success in 2024

Sack off your New Year Resolution and tap into the science of visualisation instead

There’s nothing like a new calendar year to get us feeling energised about making changes. Yep, this year will be different. And we channel that energy into making resolutions. This year will be the one when I get fit/lose weight/meditate/quit drinking.

But will it?

If you’ve made a New Year Resolution...probably not. Because they suck. They just don’t work.

A recent Forbes Health survey¹ found the average resolution lasts 3.74 months, and only 6% of people are still going with their commitment by the end of the year.

The not-too-inspiring picture of commitment to New Year resolutions

Other studies report even less tenacity, with a quarter of participants not even lasting a week. Strava’s analysis of their user data led to them dubbing January 12th “Quitter’s Day”. And a study² of people who resolved to lose weight found their resolutions were completely ineffective - in fact they resulted in slight weight increases over 3 months versus the control group.

Why are we so bad at sticking to our resolutions? It could be that the resolution is overly ambitious and difficult to maintain once work stress and the inevitable waning of enthusiasm kick in. It’s likely that the resolution isn’t accompanied by a clear plan for success which should include actionable steps, milestones, and external support. But really, making a resolution just isn’t the best way to train your brain into new habits.

How do we game the brain for success?

This dismal outcome for resolutions doesn’t mean we aren’t capable of making sustainable changes. We are just going about it the wrong way. Understanding a couple of things about the human brain may help.

Firstly, we are much more likely to be motivated by the idea of doing or gaining something, than the idea of abstaining or losing something. A research study³ looking at the effectiveness of resolutions concluded;

People with approach-oriented goals are significantly more successful than those with avoidance-oriented goals.

So if, for example, you feel you need to quit the sweet treats (I do!), you will do better with a goal like, ‘I will nourish my body with fresh and unprocessed foods’ than one like, ‘I will not eat cake and sweets’.

This positive orientation also means you are beginning to build a picture in your mind of the scenario you desire. And the more you can build that picture in vivid detail, the more successful you are likely to be. This brings us to the power of visualisation.

Many sports people and highly successful individuals advocate the use of visualisation (think Tiger Woods, Bill Gates, Arnie and Oprah). It is one of the 6 habits identified by Hal Elrod in The Miracle Morning that ‘will transform your life’. He describes it as ‘the practice of seeking to generate positive mental pictures of specific behaviors (sic) and outcomes occurring in your life’.

The neuroscience associated with visualisation is fascinating (well, I think so) and complex. There are three key reasons why the technique helps us game the brain for success.

1. Brain plasticity - the brain is always adapting and reorganising based on our experiences. This is why we can learn (and unlearn) things throughout our life. When we vividly imagine an activity or scenario we create a simulation of the experience for our brain. This can trigger a neural response as if it were actually happening, strengthening the neural pathways that will help us repeat the activity in the real world.

2. Emotional engagement - when you vividly visualise a goal, not only do you see the image of it, but you experience the emotions associated with it. If the visualisation elicits positive feelings e.g. joy, pride, or satisfaction, this can serve as a powerful motivator to pursue the goal in real life. Emotions are also tied to memory formation so they will help you encode the scenario in your brain to be recalled when you encounter the situation for real.

3. Psychological factors - visualisation aligns with cognitive-behavioural techniques, which emphasise the interconnectedness of thoughts, feelings and behaviour. During visualisation you are undergoing ‘cognitive rehearsal’ - a process of mental conditioning and preparation for the real life situations. Imagining yourself doing something well can also challenge your limiting beliefs and create confidence in your capacity and ability to achieve your goals. Fake it ‘til you make it.

Getting started with visualisation

For visualisation to be effective a few things are important; the goals must be meaningful to you and aligned with your values, they must be fully developed and immersive i.e. involve your senses and emotions, and you must be able to revisit them easily and frequently to experience the neurological benefits.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to create a vision board. This is a collection of images and words that convey your aspirations and bring them life. Your board can cover a time period of your choosing; some people like to make one for the year, others prefer a mixture of short and long term goals. You could cut up images from magazines and clip art books like this one to stick onto a large piece of card. Or you could use a design program like Canva to organise images you nab from the digital world (FYI, you can get Canva Premium free for 30 days so you can benefit from all the features). Either way, place it somewhere you will see it every day, be that on the wall by your mirror or desk, or by making it the wallpaper on your laptop or phone.

I opted for a digital vision board and didn’t restrict the time period. I created my vision boards about two years ago and I’ve only swapped in/out a couple of images since then. I ended up making three boards, each with a different focus.
This one is the ‘how do I want to live’ board:

It encompasses how I want to feel, how I want to spend my time, the environment I want to live in, and some values that are important to me such as eating veggie and doing my bit for the environment. There are a of couple of stretch goals in there too. For me, this is happy. I feel good when I look at it, I find I seek out these things more, and I feel grateful when I’m doing them.

If you are keen to give it a go but are not sure where to start, I have pulled together 20 reflection questions to spark some thinking. Just pick the ones that resonate with you and start making some notes. Then you can begin to collect images that reflect the ideas you have captured. I’d love to know how you get on.

20 Qs For Creating A Vision Board

2.69MB ∙ PDF file

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There’s more…

I do have more to say on this topic, but I will leave it there for today! I’m developing a framework (working title ‘The Guiding Star’) which explains how visualisation can join together with life purpose statements and affirmations to create…well, your Guiding Star. It’s a working articulation of your values and aspirations which you can use to support decision making and life choices. Let me know if you would be interested to hear more about that and I’ll write it up. And I’m also thinking there is a personal essay in the making on how I have used my Guiding Star to make some big choices, including the decision to start working with (for!) my husband next week. Again, let me know if you are interested as I’m happy to share my insights on that process (with a candid report on how it’s going!).

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Live virtual workshop on January 9th

If you are keen to explore visualisation and vision boards in more detail, if you have some questions, or just want to chuck some ideas around, please join me and Michelle from Mother Fit in a live virtual workshop. Organised for the paying members of Mother Fit, Michelle has kindly extended the invitation to subscribers of Womaning Wisely.
It will be on Zoom at 8pm (GMT) on Tuesday 9th January. Pop it in your diary now and I will share the attendance link the day before.

If you aren’t yet subscribed to Womaning Wisely then sign up now to make sure you don’t miss the link. And if your new vision involves you getting fitter, stronger, and healthier then head over to Mother Fit and get yourself signed up whilst their 50% discount offer is live!

1. https://www.forbes.com/health/mind/new-years-resolutions-statistics/

2. Marlatt, G.A. and Kaplan, B.E., 1972. Self-initiated attempts to change behavior: A study of New Year's resolutions. Psychological Reports, 30(1), pp.123-131.

3. Oscarsson M, Carlbring P, Andersson G, Rozental A (2020) A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. PLOS ONE 15(12): e0234097. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234097