Dates that mark a boundary, such as a birthday or the start of a week, increase the rate at which people begin working toward goals.
Dai and colleagues found searches for diets, gym attendance and commitment-contract creation spiking after temporal landmarks. The proposed mechanism is that a landmark separates the imperfect past self from a present one with a clean record, which makes aspirational behaviour feel available. The effect is real and the durability of the behaviour it starts is another matter.
In practice
- A change programme launched on the first of the month gets more participation than the same programme on the fourteenth.
- A resolution made on a birthday outlasts one made on an ordinary Tuesday, briefly.