Stick to your New Year’s resolutions
with Alexis Fernandez
Read more books, spend less money. Exercise more often, order Uber Eats less regularly. Decrease screen time, increase family time. Whatever your New Year’s resolution is, you’re less than 8 per cent likely to stick to it (UAB Medicine News, 2019).
Sorry, I know that’s harsh. But the truth is that most New Year’s resolutions are vague and unmeasurable, and giving up is often inconsequential. If you’re relying on the New Year to sustain your lifestyle changes, one thing’s for sure, the novelty of writing 2023 instead of 2022 will quickly fade. After all, that January-fresh-feeling lasts a mere 31 days.
In reality, what you need to make any long-term change is discipline.
So, we’ve enlisted the help of one UQ grad who has built a career on their ability to motivate and inspire others.
Alexis Fernandez (Bachelor of Arts ’12) is best known for her popular podcast Do you F*****g Mind. In addition to her UQ Bachelor of Arts (Psychology/French), she holds a Masters in Neuroscience and is an author and qualified personal trainer.
Her podcast community Facebook group has more than 15,000 members and she’s recently signed with Samsung to host their new podcast, Rule Benders.
Now before we get too far in, I want to address those of you who didn’t make a New Year’s resolution. I know you’re out there, smugly peering into your screen and patting yourself on the back for simply avoiding setting a goal in the first place. Well, quit smirking because Alexis’ discipline tips can help you too.
Let’s get into them.
Image credit: Alexis Fernandez
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
1. Motivation can get in the bin.
You need discipline.
Motivation is useful in that it helps you feel excited about the end goal. But it comes and goes.
“Discipline is the ability to do something regardless of how you feel.”
It’s your backbone for getting things done, and you can rely on it. So, how do we harness discipline? Keep reading.
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
2. The brain wants blocks and breaks
Find your ‘flow state’ by setting blocks of time to focus intensely and breaks to reset and refresh. If you only have a 30-minute block of time to complete a set task, you have less opportunity for distraction.
“Find your sweet spot: what is the ideal amount of focusing time? Where you’re not getting distracted, but it’s long enough to get into a flow state. What I recommend, depending on the task, is between 45 minutes and an hour.”
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
3. Delayed gratification
In addition to blocks and breaks, the brain wants rewards. If your end goal seems impossibly far away, it’s easier to cut your losses and give up. However, if you’re regularly rewarding yourself with mini milestones, you’ll be much more likely to stay on track. The trick to this is recognising, and then resisting, the reward. The reward could be as simple as your morning coffee or even checking your phone.
“Little things – easy things – that you can replicate every day. It doesn’t have to be some monumental gift to yourself.”
Check out Alexis' Instagram for a regular hit of inspo 🔥👆
The trick is to use the thing you want (e.g. coffee/phone) to pump yourself up to complete the thing that needs to be done (cleaning/emails/cooking etc). Flipping your thinking like this will do wonders for your day-to-day productivity. And the more you can practice delaying the reward, the more confident you'll become in your ability to be disciplined.
4. Create rituals, baby
There are some things that you just don’t want to do. Take out the bin? No thanks. Early morning run? I’d rather not. Cook dinner? Argh, not again.
“We will always avoid something that represents discomfort. Fair enough! Who wants to do something that’s not comfortable, especially if it’s something you have to do all the time.”
Identify the tasks you dislike and build rituals around them. A ritual involves doing set things, in a set order. If your New Year’s resolution is to read more, build a ritual around reading: wake up, drink a glass of water, read for 20 minutes, then check your phone and move on with your day.
“The point of a ritual is [to help you] get over something being uncomfortable and stop avoiding it because it’s become second nature.”
5. Auto-pilot your decision-making
According to Mel Robins it only takes five seconds to convince yourself out of something. Don’t give yourself five seconds. Do the thing now! Having a ritual helps with this.
“We are really good at talking ourselves out of something. When it comes to trying to stay on task and stay disciplined, I highly recommend you look into things like ‘the five second rule’ or rituals.”
6. Create a hype-moment
This could be dancing to a banging song, moving for 20 seconds, or taking purposeful, energising breaths.
“The theme here, in this hype moment, is physicality. You must move your body.”
This movement will help you tap into the science of ‘fight or flight’ by creating an influx of oxygen and a release of neurochemicals that prime you to focus and be alert.
In the end, there’s no quick fix to achieving change in your life. But there are small things you can do to make creating change easier for yourself.
We’d wish you luck with your New Year’s resolutions, but you don’t need luck. You need discipline. And we hope these tips will help.
Image credit: Alexis Fernandez
Today’s advice was extracted from Alexis’ podcast episode, 66. Top 4 Discipline Hacks and More Brain Science! If you’d like the full scoop – which we’d recommend! – you can listen here.
Stay in touch with Alexis by following her on Instagram and subscribing to Do You F*****g Mind and Rule Benders.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The University of Queensland.
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