It’s that time of year again when everything becomes possible. You’re going to run that marathon, master that second language, or start playing the piano. In fact, you’ll do all three. There’s an energy this time of year, a renewed sense of momentum and hope.
Unless there’s not.
It’s also that time of year when the expectation of reinvention and dramatic jumps can feel more like a shackle than a springboard. Forget personal development, you might be wondering how the heck you’re going to make it through the next 365 days.
Some years, I find myself making those big plans. All of a sudden, as if possessed by the Spirit of New Year’s Resolutions, I start researching things to sign up for. I make a calendar; I color code it. I arrange travel six months in advance.
Other years, I lie awake at three in the morning, my mind a muddle, family, friends, finances, and work twisting in my mind. By 3:30 a.m., I’ve worked them into a tangle. And because it’s winter, I’ve got another four and a half hours in the dark to worry the knot.
Surprisingly, English has a word for this feeling. Uhtceare means “lying awake before dawn and worrying.” Uht (oot) is Old English for “the restless hour before dawn,” while ceare (key are-a) signifies “care and sorrow.” (I learned the word from Mark Forsyth, author of several charming books about the English language, including The Horologicon, where my predawn anxiety found its label, as well as The Etymologicon. Both are a balm for uhtceare.)
However you’re starting the year—with uhtceare, a renewed sense of momentum and hope, or something in between—your aim is the same: make this year intentional and meaningful.
To help you get going, I’ve compiled a set of articles from the Behavioral Scientist archive. Each offers a different way to navigate what lies in front of you. I’ve selected pieces that go beyond goal-setting or willpower. The selections aren’t recipes. Instead, they offer richer, more diverse ways to think about making progress on the things you care about. The insights are straightforward enough to put into practice right away, yet deep enough to carry you beyond the start and through the hiccups and bobbles along the way.
I hope that the ideas increase your chances of success. If uhtceare is characterized by repetitive stasis, its antidote may be found in movement; success has its origin in the Latin succedere, a combination of sub meaning next to/after and cedere meaning go/move.
So let’s get moving.
— Evan Nesterak, Editor-in-Chief
Overcome the discomfort that comes with trying something new
Get Comfortable with Feeling Uncomfortable
By Ayelet Fishbach
Self-growth isn’t always easy, or comfortable. Reclaiming discomfort as progress can help you learn more and stay more motivated.
How to Channel Your Mind’s Inner Chatter
By Ethan Kross
Our inner voice functions well much of the time, but it can also lead to chatter—the cyclical negative thoughts and emotions that turn introspection into a curse. Here are strategies for breaking that cycle, both in yourself and when supporting others.
Chart the paths progress could take
What Shape Does Progress Take? Don’t Assume It’s a Straight Line
By Lee Anne Fennell
As we determine where to allocate effort and money, when to keep going and when to give up, different production functions call for different strategies. Yet, we rarely consider what production functions can tell us about our progress.
To Achieve Your Goals, Lump and Slice
By Lee Anne Fennell
Humans are remarkably sensitive to how we bundle and divide tasks and choices. We can use that quirk to help realize our aspirations.
Do less, better
A New Philosophy of Productivity
By Cal Newport
The problem is not with productivity in a general sense, but instead with a specific faulty definition that has taken hold in recent decades. Here’s what should replace it.
Doing Less Is Hard, Especially When We’re Overwhelmed
By Yael Schonbrun and Leidy Klotz
The more we have on our minds the harder it becomes to do less. But there’s hope.
To Change a Habit, Get Extreme. Progressively.
By Nir Eyal
Starting a new habit is very different from breaking an existing one. If you want to give something up, try this advice.
Get others involved
To Solve Problems Before They Happen, You Need to Unite the Right People
By Dan Heath
When everyone was telling teenagers to “just say no” to drugs and alcohol, a forward-thinking team in Iceland was figuring out what teenagers could say yes to. The results are nothing short of revolutionary.
The Power of the Stora Rör Swimming Association and Other Local Institutions
By Erik Angner
Economist Elinor Ostrom believed in the power of economics to “bring out the best in humans.” The way to do it, she thought, was to help them build community.
Take a deeper look at how we change (and how we change our behavior)
Speaking with Katy Milkman about “How to Change”
By Elizabeth Weingarten
“The key lesson of my career studying behavior change was that the flashy shots, the big shiny goal, or one-size-fits-all thing we reach for—that’s not how you achieve it. It’s the smart, strategic . . . let’s tailor the strategy approach that really works.”
To Kickstart a New Behavior, Copy and Paste
By Katy Milkman
We have a tendency to think other people know the same things we do, which means we often miss out on a great strategy for behavior change.
Free up your thinking
“Your Ideas Are Not Your Identity”: Adam Grant on How to Get Better at Changing Your Mind
By Evan Nesterak
“I do not want to have both-sides conversations anymore. Whenever somebody says, here’s the other side, my first question is, Can you tell me what the third angle and the fourth look like?”
Remembering Daniel Kahneman: A Mosaic of Memories and Lessons
By Evan Nesterak
Identifying errors in judgment and choice wasn’t just the focus of his research; it was something Kahneman seemed called to do, particularly as it applied to his own thinking. “I get a sense of movement and discovery whenever I find a flaw in my thinking,” he said.
Get clear-eyed on when to quit
Mental Models to Help You Cut Your Losses
By Annie Duke
When should you hold ’em and when should you fold ’em? Use this set of decision-making tools to help you identify when it’s time to move on and find the courage to do so.
Think smarter about your future self
The Time Traveling Mistake We Make When We Procrastinate
By Hal Hershfield
In thinking about the future in a merely surface level way, we end up traveling to a different future than the one we meant to go to.