As we begin a new year, a hopefully better year, many people feel pressure to become a new version of themselves and make drastic changes to their lives. From my experience, making extreme New Year’s resolutions works for a little while, but after some time can become exhausting and many people give up. Richard Ryan, an international expert on motivational research and professor emeritus of psychology at University of Rochester, says that resolutions for the new year can be attached to feelings of animosity, but taking time to reflect on our lives is a good thing to do for the new year. His suggestion for this year is to focus your yearly goals that involve others, specifically helping them. By helping others, it adds to your own well-being, according to Ryan’s co-founded self-determination theory. The basis of this theory is that all humans “have the intrinsic tendency to behave in effective and healthful ways,” and has become one of the most widely accepted theories in contemporary behavior science. A goal to help others satisfies all of the basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In the words of Ryan, “If you want to make a New Year’s resolution that really makes you happy, think about the ways in which you can contribute to the world. All three of these basic needs are fulfilled. The research shows it’s not just good for the world but also really good for you.”
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/science-on-new-years-resolutions-2021/