Why Feeling Uncertain About Your Resolutions Might Actually Help You Succeed
Every New Year begins with a familiar burst of optimism. People resolve to get healthier, change careers, pursue creative passions, or become more confident versions of themselves. But as weeks pass and real-world obstacles emerge, even the most meaningful resolutions can start to feel fragile. Doubt creeps in — not just about how to reach a goal, but whether it is achievable at all.
New psychological research published in Self and Identity suggests that when those doubts arise, the most effective response may not be reassurance or positive thinking. Instead, the answer may lie in questioning the doubts themselves.
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Doubting Your Self-Doubt
The research focused on what happens when people face obstacles while pursuing deeply personal long-term goals. The study involved 267 participants who completed an online survey about their most important personal goal.
First, they filled out an action crisis scale designed to measure uncertainty about continuing to pursue that goal. Participants were then told they would take part in a second, unrelated study examining memory and writing exercises. Half were asked to write about a time they felt confident in their thinking. The other half wrote about a time they felt doubtful in their thinking. After completing the writing exercise, all participants rated how committed they felt to achieving their goal.
The results were surprising. The writing task successfully shifted how confident or doubtful people felt about their own thoughts, even though it had nothing directly to do with their goals.
“What this study found is that inducing doubts in one’s doubts can provide a formula for confidence,” said study author Patrick Carroll in a press release.
Participants who already felt doubtful about their goal and then wrote about feeling confident became less committed. In contrast, those who felt doubtful and then wrote about their doubt became more committed to their goals.
As Carroll explained, “On some level, it may seem that doubt would be additive. Doubt plus doubt would equal more doubt. But this study found the opposite: doubt plus doubt equaled less doubt.”
Identity Goals and Action Crises
The researchers were particularly interested in identity goals — long-term ambitions tied to who someone wants to become, rather than what they want to accomplish in the short term. Examples might include becoming a writer, a healthier person, or a supportive partner.
An action crisis occurs when someone becomes internally conflicted about whether continuing to pursue such a goal is worth the effort.
“When pursuing identity goals, bumps in the road inevitably arise. There may come a point where the obstacle is big enough to evoke doubts about whether to continue,” said Carroll.
The key concept behind the study is meta-cognitive doubt, or doubt about one’s own thinking. Rather than asking whether a goal is realistic, meta-cognitive doubt prompts people to ask whether their doubts themselves are reliable.
How to Apply This Insight in Your Own Life
On a practical level, deliberately inducing doubt about your doubts may be difficult to do alone. One reason the approach worked in the study is that participants were unaware that the writing exercise was connected to their goals.
Carroll suggests that the technique may be more effective when guided by someone else — such as a therapist, teacher, friend, or parent — who can prompt reflection without directly challenging the goal itself.
The researchers also caution that this strategy should be used carefully. When misapplied or overused, it could undermine sound judgment rather than strengthen commitment.
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