I’ve been posting New Year’s resolutions blogs this
month. These posts have urged Lady
Boomers to exercise their creative muscles, to infuse their lives with more
color and fun, and even examine their purses for excess baggage they might be
carrying around.
I obviously believe in resolutions. Resolutions, New Years or otherwise,
represent a commitment to yourself; a way of honoring yourself and your
dreams. That is why I read with interest
an article in last Sunday’s New York Times entitled, Be It
Resolved. Author John Tierney
made the following assertions about New Year’s resolutions in this article:
-Whatever you hope for this year, you are more likely to
make improvements than someone who hasn’t made a formal resolution. You are 10 times more likely to change by
making a New Year’s resolution compared to non-resolvers with identical goals.
-If you make it through January, you have a good chance of
lasting much longer.
He goes on to say most people are not going to keep their
resolutions all year long. They start
out with the best of intentions, but by the end of January, a third will have
broken their resolutions; by July, more than half will have lapsed. (Pretty pessimistic stuff, huh?). One of the secrets for keeping one’s resolve
is establishing strategies for keeping them.
(maybe the word “secret” is at the heart of our failures to keep our
resolves. How can anyone be expected to
follow through if it’s a well kept secret?)
Here are a few of their strategies:
1. Set a single clear
goal, like “I will lose a pound a week” rather than “I want to lose weight”.
2. Make a formal
contract with a friend on social media sites or on stick.k.com. You can name a referee, enter a contest,
institute a pre-paid penalty.
3. Keep track- self
monitoring is vital.
4. Don’t panic over a
relapse.
5. Reward yourself
often. If your waistline shrinks, buy
clothes.
Every little bit helps…
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