N. Raghuraman's Column: How to Be a Little Better Yourself in 2026?

"Please avoid morning walks from January 1 to 4. There is likely to be a large and unexpected rush of people taking the resolution to stay fit during this time period. However, the situation may return to normal from January 5. This warning message I received this year brought a smile to my face at first, but then it made me wonder why most resolutions fail. And what does this failure tell us about human behavior? That's why I started looking for a solution for a 'perfect' New Year's resolution. Every January millions of us make daring guesses without any data, adopt strategies without any feedback, and take gym memberships. As the days go by, the 'we' who took the resolution, and the 'we' that he was supposed to keep—both officially file for divorce from each other! The cold weather extinguishes the fire within us and most of us return to the December version of last year. Why? Because when we make this contract, we are anticipating our will-power for the future. We imagine an ideal version of ourselves — disciplined, eating righteously, virtuous, waking up at dawn — rather than the real self of us known through experiences that hits the snooze button as soon as the alarm goes off. In the social sciences that study human behavior, this is called the 'present bias', which is most visible on January 1. In college days, the first Sunday that came after the New Year was called 'Ditch New Years Resolution Day'. And since today is Sunday, a large section will be busy putting their resolutions on the sidelines. This begs the question: if poor prognosis, irregularities in timing and the gulf between our intentions and behaviour are responsible for the aforementioned pleas for 'divorce', then what is the key to sustaining this relationship? Human-behavior researchers say that 'approach-oriented' goals lead to 26% more success than 'avoidance' goals. For example, a resolution with sentences like 'exercising three to four times a week' performs better than 'stop eating junk food from January 1'. Similarly, '20 minutes of reading a book every night' is more effective than 'reducing screen time by 20 minutes'. 'Avoidance' goals demand constant vigilance and willpower, while 'approach' goals create a rhythm. Choice-architecture plays a big role in success. This means crafting the environment or context in which people make decisions, presenting choices in such a way that it influences their choices. And that too without limiting their freedom. This concept, coined by Thaler and Sunstein, holds that every decision-making environment has its own structure, whether intentional or not, and that influences the outcome—from the provision of food in the canteen to the keeping of books in the house. Today, in many homes, every room has TV screens, not bookshelves; Therefore, it becomes difficult to attract children to reading. In homes where there are books and where parents read, children also adopt that habit. That's why keep the goal small, like doing three push-ups every morning as soon as you wake up. This resolution is more likely to last for several days and gradually becomes a habit, after which it can be extended- As Dr. B.J. Gupta points out. It is told in Fogg's book 'Tiny Habits Method'. So if you want to be a little better with your current self in 2026, practice consistency with smaller goals before prioritizing intensity. The trick is that only when you look at self-improvement as an investment in which your decisions are made by solid evidence and catalysts that align with your intuition will you be able to dramatically increase your chances of succeeding.