It’s January 3. The gyms are suddenly crowded; the freshly bought journals are pristine; and suddenly, everyone you know is trying to learn Italian like they’re about to become a deep-cover spy in Tuscany. It’s the new year, new you, new everything.

Or, at least, it is for a few days. January 9, the second Friday of the month this year, is colloquially known as “Quitter’s Day,” because it’s the date nearly half of all people abandon their New Year’s resolutions.

It’s enough to make you wonder why we bother in the first place. But the New Year is one of the few moments when our culture collectively agrees that it’s normal to try to change. Behavioral scientists even have a name for it: the “fresh start effect,” the idea that temporal landmarks — a new year, a birthday, a Monday — can make people feel like they’re opening a new chapter, which can translate into change.

The opportunity to change — whether it’s a change of habits, change of skills, or change of communities, or even far bigger changes like changing careers or religion — is really a modern privilege. Even today, not everyone has that freedom, and no one has it equally, but for a huge slice of the people reading this story, our range of plausible life trajectories is far wider than it was for the vast bulk of human history, when life paths were far more limited and largely fixed at birth.

So, this New Year’s, let’s ignore the cynics and embrace the freedom to change. To help you along, I’ve gathered five evidence-based tactics designed to help your resolutions survive contact with real life and to help you take advantage of your historically unusual ability to chart your own life.

Tip 1: Lower those standards (and get specific)

Why do most resolutions fail? Because they’re vibes, not actual behavior. “Get in shape.” “Be healthier.” “Write more.” Those aren’t actions; they’re umbrella identities with disputed borders, which means every day trying to live up to them........

© Vox