Keeping New Year's Resolutions
Three Important Questions To Help One Through the New Year
Dec 18, 2007
New Year's Resolutions are the most readily made and often the most easily broken promises. Whether one wants to lose weight, pay off debts, quit smoking or many other aims, asking oneself three key questions can help focus one's efforts. Remembering reasons, plans and back-up approaches in case of setbacks will increase one's likelihood of making successful, long-term resolutions.
Why Make a Resolution?
For thousands of years, in many civilizations from the Sumerians to the Romans, people have wanted to start the new year off on the right foot. Symbolically speaking, January 1st is a powerful time to ask important questions about one's life: if one is happy with the direction it's going, if one's health, personal habits, relationship, financial picture, or the size of one's ecological footprint could be improved.
One desires change. When the struggle to keep the resolution becomes a challenge, one needs to remember why one made this promise in the first place. The reason is that one wants to see oneself in a different place at the end of the year (and beyond!) than one was at the beginning.
How to Keep this Resolution?
First of all, don't wait until the last minute and pick a resolution on impulse or when in a negative frame of mind. Plan ahead to start the new year with a set goal along with the steps through which it will be attained. Larry LaMotte, a life coach, wisely reminds his clients: “Trying to be what you're not is a waste of time.” Resolving to become a marathon runner when one has never even jogged around the block is more than likely doomed to failure. Keep goals realistic, small and achievable.
To lose weight, for instance, resolve to do so 10 pounds at a time. Write down a list of healthy foods to enjoy eating according to a required caloric intake. Also list a range of sensible and fun exercises: from walking instead of driving, to swimming, dancing or ice skating. Concentrate on the positive outcomes, not just in terms of lower weight, but a rise in energy, glowing skin, and well-functioning organs and muscles. Don't focus on what is impossible but on what can now be accomplished that one couldn't before.
What If the Resolution is Broken?
Instead of thinking one is going to quit doing something for life or that if one fails then one should never bother to try again, remember that one is human! According to statistics, those who keep their resolutions for “at least two years report an average of 14 slips or setbacks during that time.” These slips didn't stop them from continuing to fulfill their resolution.
Have a plan for these setbacks. Gorging suddenly on chocolate cake? Create solutions beforehand to counter this behavior. Call a friend, eat some carrots, jump back on that treadmill, write in your journal. Find a way of stopping the behavior that's undermining your resolution. Don't blame or feel guilt. Just return to the plan and keep going. The end result is important in making a resolution, but the process is just as essential.
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