New
Year's Resolutions: 10 tips to stay motivated!
By Lori W. Hollander, LCSW-C, BCD
New Years resolutions, you say! Bah! Humbug! Why bother,
I never keep them anyway! How many of us made New Years Resolutions?
Many of us! How many of us keep them? According to John Norcross,
professor of psychology at the University of Scranton, “About
75 percent (of people) are successful in keeping their New Year’s
resolutions for a couple of weeks.” But by February 1, nearly
half have given up. So what is behind this age-old tradition where
we truly have good intentions and then fall off the wagon?
The beginning of a new year is a time where many of
us pause and reflect on our lives. We think about how satisfied
we are with our relationships, our bodies, our health, our jobs
and the way we are living our lives. We are, at that moment, “AWAKE!”
We slow down and think about what we are doing instead
of just living our life in the habitual way we have become accustomed
to. Even though we may not be satisfied with our relationships,
our poor eating habits, the lack of balance in our lives between
work and home, it is hard to change. Though the rewards are great,
change takes energy and discipline and is uncomfortable! And we
all have enough to do!
The good news is that there are some small things
we can do to keep ourselves motivated and on track with our resolutions:
1) Make sure your goal is specific and
concrete. If your resolution was to “exercise,”
what does that mean? A specific goal is, “Use the treadmill
three times per week for 30 minutes.”
2) Be realistic about your goal. If getting
out to the gym takes too much time, buy a treadmill and exercise
at home.
3) Set your intention several times a day.
Make it a habit as part of your morning ritual to remind yourself
of your goal. After you brush your pearly whites, pause for 30 seconds
and think about how you will work on the goal today. Before you
go to lunch take 30 seconds to close your eyes and think about your
goal. Do the same before you go to bed.
4) Set up your environment to remind you of the rewards.
Put up an old picture of how you used to look in that bathing suit:
at work, at home, on the refrigerator.
5) Be your own coach. Use your “self-talk”
to tell yourself you can do it. Feed the positive part of yourself.
6) Pick a partner who is also working on a resolution
and coach each other – being accountable to someone
else makes it more likely that you will succeed. Check in with each
other daily.
7) Take a five minute relaxation break twice a day.
Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths and picture yourself succeeding.
Think about how you will feel.
8) Create a contingency plan for the times you don’t
stick with it. Success is three steps forward and one
step back. It is not realistic to think you will “be good”
all the time. But don’t let that stop you from beginning again!!
9) Face the roadblocks that prevent you from succeeding.
Look inside and ask yourself, why am I sabotaging myself? If I stop
smoking, I won’t know what to do with my nervous energy. If
I spend more time with my family, I won’t get my work done
and I will lose clients. What is your fear?
10) Practice being kind to yourself. Remember
we are all creatures of habit and creating new habits is difficult
and uncomfortable.
So get to it! Or back to it, I should say. And have
a happy 2006!!
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