Is
it that time of the year all ready??? Well, no...but,
almost. This
month's newsletter discusses how to plan ahead and start making changes
in your life now so that you will have better success at implementing
the lifestyle changes we all feel compelled to after the
holidays.
1.
The state or quality of being resolute; firm
determination.
2.
A resolving to do something.
3.
A course of action determined or decided on.
4.
A formal statement of a decision or expression of
opinion put before or adopted by an assembly such as the U.S. Congress.
Most all of us have made
New Year's Resolutions at one time or another.We
have decided that after a holiday season of binge
eating, drinking too
much alcohol at holiday parties, and steady levels of inactivity
throughout the
cold weather season, it is time to put our foot down and make a stand
for
ourselves.
Most people don't think
about resolutions until after the holiday season for several reasons.They don't want to remind themselves of how
difficult it is going to be, or of how much they need to change.It is a lot like the thought of "out of
sight, out of mind". Plus, they use
the holidays and family visits as not only an excuse to prolong the
behavior,
but to indulge even more.
Resolutions are
declared, written on paper and compared to others that friends and
family come
up with and then within the end of January or even sooner; these
declarations
are lost and we are back to our old lifestyle.The
idea is noble, but it doesn't last most of the
time.The ironic thing is that most of us
who make
some form of New Year's resolutions have made the exact one or ones
many years
in a row.People try to lose weight,
stop smoking, sleep more, start exercising, stop cursing… there are
limitless bad-habit
options for people to pick from to try and change.
Lifestyle Change
Resolutions,
being something that people are
trying hard to stop and usually have failed at stopping one time or
another,
tend to be a part of their lifestyle.So
in order to stop these behaviors, individuals must go through a
behavior change
or lifestyle change.This is different
than the "quitting style" that varies from individual to individual
such as cold turkey, tapering off, negative association, etc.A lifestyle change is just as it sounds.In order to rid oneself of a negative aspect
of their current life they need to replace it with something positive.For instance, if you want to quit smoking,
then as you stop that negative addiction, implement another form of
positive
behavior (which often is another New Year’s resolution) such as walking
every
day, or exercising.
Preparing ahead of
time
If you are one who knows
that they have failed at this before, and so desperately want to rid
themselves
of one or more bad behaviors, then don't wait for the New Year to start
so to
speak. If you want to actually "start" on the first day of the new
year, whether it be to have others going through the same thing, or
that you
know you might falter during the holidays and don't' want to let
yourself down,
then do so. But, prepare ahead of time.
Start now with your
lists of things you need to do in order to implement these new changes.That way you will be fully in touch with what
you want to accomplish and it won’t be such a shock to the system.Find accountability partners now, look for a
health club to join, find local support groups, start a journal.Then when January 1st rolls around you can
wake up really ready to start the new
you.
More Helpful Information
The US government has a great site dedicated to helping people
accomplish their New Year's Resolution goals. You can check it
out at their Popoular
New Year's Resolutions page.
Here is another great page with tons of useful information and the
ability to intereact with other people that are as motivated as you are
so you can share ideas and have some support. Check out How to Keep
Your New Year's Resolutions.
