Tammy Zacchilli-New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions may be falling out of favor, especially among younger adults. But one expert says it may be a matter of taking smaller steps to change. We speak with St. Leo University psychology professor Tammy Lowery Zacchilli.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Gordon Bird here with Beyond the News. Twenty twenty four is almost here,
and for many of us that meansmaking New Year's resolutions. But as you
probably have experienced, those often fallby the wayside as January rolls into February
and March. One recent survey oftwo thousand adults finds more than half of
Americans think resolutions are outdated. We'respeaking now with doctor Tammy lowry's Achille.

(00:25):
She is a professor of psychology atSaint Leo University based in Pasco County,
with a number of campuses all around. Doctor z Achille, Welcome to Beyond
the News. Hi, thank youso much for having me today. Well,
first, does it surprise you thatlarge numbers of Americans, at least
according to this survey, are havingsecond thoughts about making New Year's resolutions and

(00:49):
they maybe see the custom as abit outdated. I find those results interesting
because I do feel like there's stillthat tradition behind these New Year's resolutions,
even though people don't tend to stickwith them. So I guess as time
is changing people or maybe beginning torealize that these are hard things to stick

(01:11):
with, and so maybe that's whythey kind of feel like it's becoming outdated.
So I think, you know,some aspects are surprising and then other
aspects maybe not so much. AllRight, you're a professor of psychology.
What makes these resolutions so hard forus to keep? When we say to
ourselves we're going to lose weight,we're going to trim our debt, or

(01:32):
whatever it is we're trying to accomplishin the new year. I think the
big thing is that we often don'treally think about how hard change really is,
and so we kind of get caughtup in the excitement. Oh,
everybody has these resolutions, and I'mgoing to kind of join in and do
the same thing. And a lotof the behaviors that we want to change

(01:53):
are things that we've been doing fora really long time. And I think
also in this day and age withtechnol and things like that, that we
want instant gratification. And so itcan be really hard for us to set
these goals and then expect that changeis just going to happen overnight when that's
not really the case. Is ita question of trying to make such a

(02:16):
big change? Is it something thatwe need to look at, maybe in
terms of smaller steps as opposed.Absolutely, yeah, so absolutely, so.
I think you know, sometimes withthese New Year's resolutions, we do
kind of go to the extreme andwe don't really think about what it will
take to reach those goals. SoI think, you know, even if

(02:38):
you have a bigger goal, you'regonna need to step back and think about
what can I do along the wayto reach that goal. Again, change
is hard, It's going to taketime. These expectations that change will happen
overnight. We just have to kindof look past that and realize that it
does take time. And small stepsalong the way are good. It's good
to reach those to provide yourself withsome encouragement when you reach each of those

(03:01):
steps. And so again, ifit's a big goal, that's okay,
as long as you realize that youmight need those smaller steps to get you
there. Now. Often people willtell others that they plan that they have
a New Year's resolution, that they'replanning to make some changes after the first
of the year. But how cansupport systems be used? How can you

(03:23):
get people to enlist and help yoube a part of overcoming that challenge that
you're trying to face with that newresolution. So I think the support systems
are important for all different aspects ofour life. So new Year's resolutions and
just goals in general, can youknow we can reach them better if we

(03:46):
have that support system. So Ithink findings maybe somebody that has a similar
goal that they're trying to reach wouldbe a good support system because you can
kind of lean on each other havingyour family or friends be supportive. So
let's say you're one to change yourdiet, you're wanting to exercise more,
and your family doesn't see the valuein that, and they're still wanting to

(04:06):
eat those cakes and cookies and you'retrying really hard to avoid that. Then
that's not really providing support, right. You want to be understanding like,
Okay, I'll eat my cake andcookies when you're not in front of me.
Maybe it's even little things like thatcan make a huge difference. And
again, support systems are just soimportant for every aspect of our life.

(04:29):
And so if we're setting these year'sresolutions, that's just going to help us
if we can have somebody that wecan lean on that we can say,
hey, this is really hard,can you talk to me, Can you
provide some guidance, and that canbe informal with like family and friends,
or some people join like support groupsmaybe online or in person to get that
extra help if they're trying to reachgoals with weight loss, exercise, debt

(04:53):
really for whatever it may be.And that brings up another point that you
make as far as finding out whatyour motivation is. Is it something that's
within you or is it a responseto people around you? Are you trying
to do something to please others?Right? And so when we look at
you know, kids, especially youknow kids, a lot of them enjoy

(05:15):
like those praises and stickers and whateverit may be. That's very external and
that external praise from others. Butas we get older, we begin to
realize that we really need to bemore internally motivated or intrinsically motivated. That's
going to make a huge difference.And so if you're making these New Year's
resolutions for someone else and you're notdoing it for yourself, or maybe you're

(05:39):
doing it because you want to receivesome sort of praise or some sort of
reward, then you're might not reallystick with it as well, because what's
really in it for you? Whatare you really going to gain from that.
So when you're looking at these NewYear's resolutions, really think about what's
motivating you, Like, why isthis important? When am I going to
gain if I do complete this resolutionor this goal. Doctor Tammy lowry's achille,

(06:05):
a professor of psychology at Saint LeoUniversity in Pascoe County, thank you
very much for joining us on beyondthe News