Repairing Broken New Year's Resolutions

Has your life gone through any change since New Year’s Eve? Are you keeping your resolutions?

Perhaps your resolution was to lose weight. As a smoker, you may have decided to give up your habit. Others vowed to do a better job managing stress, eat healthier or spend more time with their family.

After a week or two, you may find yourself back where you started . . . sitting in defeat on a mound of broken commitments. I certainly hope not.

Whether you succeed or fail, it’s risky business making resolutions.

Philip R. Muskin, M.D., Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University suggests, “A new year is a great time to think about the changes we want to make. . . . but those resolutions can lead to frustration when we find we have set unrealistic goals.”

Prof Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire tracked the resolutions of more than 3000 people to see if people can stick to keeping their promises. There was no surprise to his findings-only 12% were successful!

Whether you want to lose weight, improve your golf swing, stop swearing or cut down on your drinking, here are some tips for success for staying on top of your New Year’s resolutions:

•Make it personal. Avoid only making commitments to rid yourself of bad habits. Try to make a resolution where you’ll gain something new in your life: learning to play piano or mastering a new computer program will make you feel great about yourself.

•Make only one resolution. Trying to eat better, exercise more, quit smoking, change careers and reduce stress is too much to tackle at once. Pick a realistic, attainable goal within a reasonable time frame.

•Refuse to repeat previous resolutions. Are you working on your twentieth attempt to run five miles each morning? Do something new this year. Take up biking or swimming.

If you insist on making a commitment to tackle the same old problem, try a different approach. Hire a trainer to meet you at a local high school track at 6:00 am to make sure you get that early run in before breakfast.

•Forgive yourself. Don’t give up completely because you ate a brownie and broke your diet or skipped going to the gym for a week. Everyone has their ups and downs. Resolve to recover from your mistakes and get back in the game.

•Be specific. Try to think through exactly what you need to do in order to change. If you’re trying to find a new job, make a goal of working on your resume this week or applying for at least two jobs a week.

•Try again. Sorry to tell you . . . you’re going to fail. However, don’t discourage yourself thinking you’ll never succeed. Examine why you failed in the past and this time head off your obstacles before they climb out of the shadows to tackle you.

•Make a plan and write it down. According to the American Psychiatric Association, plan what you’d like to accomplish in the next three to six months. Achieving small goals over time gives you a sense of accomplishment and motivation to keep going. Writing your goals down is a good way to keep track of your progress.

Refuse to ruin 2008 by hanging on to old habits. By practicing today’s tips, you’ll be pleased at how you life has been transformed next New Year’s Eve.

John
Email: johnsblog@teshmedia.com