Why Most Diabetes Resolutions Fail (and How You Can Succeed)

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As part of our work on Diabetes Daily University, we spend a lot of time analyzing research on changing behavior to achieve success. As we enter the new year, let’s review research-backed strategies for meeting your diabetes resolutions. This is from Heidi Grant Halvorson’s fabulous new book, Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals.

Two Types of Goals: Be Good v. Be Better

Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals

Setting a specific goal to “be good” at something, like losing 10 pounds this month, is a double-edged sword. It’s very motivating, but if you fail to reach that goal, it’s demoralizing. If your goal is to drop 10 pounds and you don’t, you’re a failure. You start to see yourself as incapable of ever achieving that goal.

On the other hand, if your goal is to be better, then you react to failure differently. You didn’t fail because you lacked the ability, but because you haven’t mastered the skills you need to get there. You have taken steps to improve and just need more time or experience. It’s not that you can’t, it’s because you haven’t yet.

For example, there was a simple study where students were given a test. One half were told the test gauged how good they were at problem solving (the “be good”). The other half were told it was part of a training program (the “be better” mentality). When faced with hard problems, those in the first group gave up while those in the second group worked harder and ultimately did better. When faced with adversity, those striving for improvement actually outperformed those who sought an all-or-nothing goal.

“Be better” goals are also more enjoyable along the way. If your reward comes when you reach a milestone, it can be a long and lonely wait. But if your goal is improvement, your reward comes with each step forward. It is literally about the journey rather than the destination.

Bottom line: “be good” goals are all-or-nothing. “Being better” goals are more enjoyable and sustainable in the face of adversity. So when working to change ingrained habits, set “be better” goals and your chance of success immediately goes way up. 

Vanquish Goal Saboteurs

There are many things that can stand in your way of success.

  1. Execute. Most of the time we know what needs to be done, but fail to do it. In the end, we must keep our goal in front of us and act on it in order to achieve it. How are you going to keep your key goals on center stage?
  2. Know What to Do. Do you know what you need to do to achieve your goal? Map out the steps for getting from where you are today to success. When you set out to achieve a goal without a plan, you’re more likely to get lost on the way.
  3. Keep Your Shields Up. A lot of things compete for your attention: distractions, temptations, and competing goals. Focus on one goal at a time and be consciously aware of distractions.
  4. Monitor Your Progress. If you don’t know how you’re doing, how will make adjustments and adapt? Carefully tracking your progress is a key to staying on track.

Make Success Simple

There are ways to make your goals easier to achieve. One simple technique to create if-then charts. For example, if I have a choice to eat fish instead of meat, then I will get the dressing on the side. These mental shortcuts take away pressure to deviate from your plan. If you know what you want to do, you’re more likely to do it in the face of distractions.

For even better results, break out your if-then charts by time and place. If you’re dieting, think about your if-then choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, for home and work, for the grocery store and the restaurant. The more specific you are, the better.

For best results, think about specific obstacles you will encounter. If your friends ask you out for pizza, then you will suggest going to a place that has healthy side options, too. By thinking through all of these issues in advance, you reduce your need for self-control when it’s decision making time.

Exercise Your Self-Control Muscle

Halvorson summarizes a lot of research on self-control. It turns out that self-control is like a muscle. When you use it, it gets tired and needs a break. But when you use it regularly, it also gets stronger. To maximize your self-control:

  • Practice having self-control regularly and you’ll get more self-control.
  • Give yourself a break from self-control. In one study, interrupting a task with a 5-minute comedy clip substantially improved the self-control of participants. (Except for those who weren’t allowed to laugh: the extra self-control made them perform significantly worse on tests of self-control.)
  • Watching someone else practice self-control makes it easier for you to do it. Even imagining someone else practicing it works!
  • A small amount of something sweet improves self-control after about 10 minutes even in tasks that have nothing to do with food.
  • Stop before you start: it’s way easier to skip a bag of chips than only eat two.
  • Don’t put yourself in unnecessary situations that require a lot of self-control.

Make Your Diabetes Resolutions Work

I highly recommend Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals for anyone who has goals to achieve. It does a great job of synthesizing a large body of research and making it practical for the rest of us. Good luck!
  • http://none WooDy

    You forgot a couple.
    Be rich,,so you can afford meds when in donut hole.
    Be lucky,, to NOT have Dr’s say ; ‘take your insulin and follow your diet.’
    thenb be told ‘ well, that’s not the best treatment for you’

  • Maureen

    It’s easy for someone to give you advice if they know firsthand about having diabetes. No one can understand unless they’re inflicted with it.

  • http://www.a1c53.com Brendon Livingstone

    Hi David

    Thanks for the post. Sometimes it is about committing to yourself that you will make it happen. I set myself the goal in August to get my hemoglobin A1c to below 7.0%. I was 7.7% at the time. I made some changes and tracked my progress publicly through my blog and podcast (creating external accountability). In November my hemoglobin A1c had dropped to 7.1% and I am committed to keep on going until the goal is achieved (and then maintained).


  • Abbie

    Great article very empowering and helpful. I am a diabetes educator. I will share this with my support group.