If you’ve scrolled through your online news feeds or turned on the TV or radio, there’s one story that simply won’t go away – New Year’s Resolutions. This year I’ve seen two major themes – saving money and health. On the health front, so far today I’ve read or heard stories about a new spinning class, using the Wii Fit to get in shape and gyms reducing their fees for the new year.
Many of us have started healthier routines through New Year’s Resolutions – like quitting smoking, cutting back on junk or walking more. In fact, I recently read an article about someone who made the resolution to start with a simple goal: getting more exercise. Four years later, he had achieved that goal and more, by competing in a triathlon.
But for a lot of us, New Year’s resolutions can end within the first few weeks of the year. If you belong to a gym, just think about how crowded it is on January 2nd vs. December 2nd. I think the toughest part about making resolutions is that it’s usually a change that we don’t really want to make or something we know we’ll have to substantially change our routine to accommodate. Often worse is the feeling of failure we have when we don’t make that change.
So with that in mind, I have a few ideas that just might help this year’s lifestyle changes stick:
- Don’t make a New Year’s Resolution, set a goal. Consider setting a realistic goal. For example, instead of saying “I’m never going to eat junk for lunch again.” plan to bring a healthy lunch two days a week. Once you’ve achieved that goal, set a new, more ambitious goal.
- If you do make a resolution and you break it, don’t wait until 2010 to try it again. Just because you stop exercising for a week, doesn’t mean it’s not for you. Look for ways to make it easier for you to fit exercise in, like trying something new (swimming?), finding a walking buddy or giving yourself rewards each time you take a walk.
- Take small steps, rather than making a grandiose goal. Last year’s Ignite book club – One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Dr. Robert Maurer – does a terrific job of showing how to take little steps and making big changes. The basic concepts from the book were discussed in a series of blogs and you can review the transcript of a Live Chat with Dr. Maurer.
- Every day is a good day to make a change. Just because it’s not 12:01 on January 1st doesn’t mean you can’t decide to make a healthier change. For example, why not try to drink a glass of water before lunch and another before dinner? Or take a 15-minute walk with family or a friend after dinner tonight.
If you’re deciding whether to make a resolution, the best advice I’ve read is to know yourself. Have you made and broken resolutions in the past or do they result in making a healthier change for good? If you have broken resolutions, do you have better motivation to keep your resolution now? If you’re like many of us who have broken our resolutions in the past, maybe now’s the time to set some smaller goals and work towards them one at a time. And today’s the best day to start.
Kerry
