Prepping for the New Year's Resolution

I am not one to set New Year’s Resolutions. Mostly because they get such a bad rap! They are rarely successful and people ditch them before February begins. I have to believe that some of that is true! Have you ever worked out at a gym in January? It’s chaos! The regulars will tell you to hang in there because come February, most of the people you see won’t show up anymore and you can get on any machine you want. How sad!

I found some interesting tidbits about New Year’s Resolutions through my research. Did you know that New Year’s Resolutions can be traced as far back as Babylonian times? It is said that Julius Caesar started the tradition of making resolutions on January 1st as a way to honor the Roman mythical god Janus, whose two faces allowed him to look back into the past year and forward to the New Year. According to history, Romans mostly made morality-based resolutions, such as seeking forgiveness from their enemies.

I’m not sure how successful the Ancient Babylonians were but the success rate of keeping resolutions in modern times is indeed dismal. I have read research that states an average overall success rate of anywhere from 8% to 25%.

Even so, there is some positive news. One expert believes, “The fact that people keep making resolutions even when they don’t always follow through ultimately means that they have hope and a certain level of belief in their ability to change and be more of who they really want to be.” Faith, hope and perhaps a little insanity, right?

Another positive reality is that there are ways to increase your chances of being successful with your New Year’s Resolutions. Let me share the expertise that I gained via my best friend, Google!

People who have kept their resolutions have followed some or all of the following best practices:

1. Break your goal into smaller steps.  Losing 50 pounds is a big deal but striving for a 4 pound weight loss in a month or replacing one meal a day with a salad, seems a lot more achievable and a lot less discouraging! Running a marathon is a big deal but walking 30 minutes a day 5 days a week seems almost manageable to get the ball rolling!
2. Reward yourself when you reach one of your smaller milestones. Something small but motivating! Eating an entire pizza might not be a good reward choice if your goal is weight loss but buying a book, getting a pedicure or a massage, or scheduling time to take a walk with a friend might be a good idea!
3. Tell your friends about your goals! There’s nothing like peer pressure to keep you on the right track. Marathon Running 101 tells you that you should commit to a race and then tell EVERYONE! So on that rainy Monday morning when you don’t feel like getting out of bed to run, you can think about all those people who are going to ask you how you are coming along with your training and you don’t want to be forced to say…. Uhhhhhh, I gave up. :)
4. Focus on the benefits of success.  Losing weight or exercising consistently is something to do but what will it get you? What’s in it for you? Clothes fitting better? Being able to walk up a flight of stairs without being winded? Sleeping better? Better stress management? A feeling of accomplishment? Whatever the goal is, take some time to write down all the positive things associated with your success! Focus on those when the going gets tough.
5. Keep a diary of your progress. This is a big one with weight loss, eating healthy or managing your spending but it can be successfully used for any goal. Trying to better balance your work and home life? Simply start tracking how many hours you are at work and how many hours you spend working on work stuff at home. It might surprise you enough to shock you into making a change!

One study found that people who planned a series of smaller goals (#1) had an average success rate of 35%, while those who followed all five of the above strategies had a 50% chance of success.

A 50/50 chance sounds a lot better than an 8% chance!

Despite the low success rates, and the risk of ridicule, I’ve really been thinking about it this year. It seems like if I don’t take the time to sit down, look around, put some thought into it and plan out what I want to change and how I’m going to change it, it simply isn’t going to happen.

In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Stay tuned for my ACTUAL New Year’s Resolutions! Coming soon to a blog near you!

Keep on smiling!

You Tell 'Em!!