The new year is just a few days away and the resolutions that typically go with it are following right behind. New Year resolutions are actually dated back to ancient Babylon where the people would make promises to their gods for the new year. Nowadays, most resolutions are for self-purposes and end up being temporary due to failed attempts.

But don’t worry, there is a science explanation for those failed resolutions.

Resolutions can actually be a bad thing.

According to Time magazine, most New Year resolutions are abandoned after one week and only 8 percent actually stick to them.

For example, if you vow to eat less, then eating more will more likely be a result. The same goes for wanting to work out, drink less alcohol, smoke less, etc.

Steve Salerno, author of Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless, says in his book, “We are a culture that is addicted to resolutions and affirmation and rosy rhetoric … and meanwhile nothing actually changes. The addiction to resolutions and affirmations replaces the original addiction or chronic problem.”

It is somewhat of a coping mechanism. Once you think you did not doo a good job, you will start to binge. Even if you think you did a good enough job, you treat yourself to what you are supposed to be avoiding. It is like a mind trick.

In some cases, the resolution will make the problem worse by eating more, drinking more etc. than you would have if you never started the resolution in the first place.

Setting a specific day can make it feel like an endless goal. Maybe instead of completely giving something up set up something gradual.

Ultimately, setting a new year resolution won’t necessarily get you to your goal. In order to change something in your life, the ultimate goal would be to make it a lifestyle.