Tips for Making Your New Years Resolution Work! by David Junno Psy.D.

Tips for Making Your New Years Resolution Work!

By David Junno Psy.D.

Many of us make New Year’s resolutions few; of us keep them. In

their article “If at First Your Don’t Succeed”, Polivy and Herman

cite statistics that:

· 25% of New Year’s resolutions will be abandon in the first

15 weeks

· The average number of time’s a New Years resolution is made

is 10

· Those who manage to make a resolution that lasts for 6 months

or more have often tried 5 or 6 times before finally

succeeding

· Many New Year’s resolutions are for health related goals

*****************************************************

Three most important elements of a good resolution:

Goals, Goals, Goals!

*****************************************************

------------------------------

Have appropriate expectations.

------------------------------

Setting the right goal is everything. Too often we set our

expectations too high. The result is it is harder to meet them.

This in turn can lead to increased discouragement, which can

lead to less motivation in the future. One area people often set

unrealistic goals for is weight loss.

As Polivy and Herman point out, people either have too high

expectations for how much they lose, or they expect too much

from losing it. Genetics accounts for approximately 70% of our

weight. There is a limit to how much we can expect to lose. This

doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try if it is in the interest of our

health. What it does mean is we will be much more successful with

more modest goals.

Just starting a program for healthier living can have results.

According to the research of Roberts and Barnard, people can

experience significant improvements in their health status after

three weeks of making dietary changes, even before they have

any weight loss.

There is also the issue of what we expect from weight loss. Many

of us expect weight loss to result in success in relationships,

work and improved health. Yes, having a better diet can improve

health, even with modest weight loss. However, losing weight is

no guarantee of success in other areas of life. If we tie all our

hopes for a better life to something like weight loss, we set

ourselves up for potential failure. It is unlikely we will

achieve these rewards from weight loss alone. If we want to be

more successful in relationships or work, we should make those

separate goals.

--------------------

Set a learning goal

--------------------

Most of us who need to make changes in our lives to improve our

health are not yet ready to make those changes. To make

successful lifestyle changes requires knowledge, time, and

commitment. Leaping in to change before doing the necessary

preparation is another recipe for failure. Rather than expecting

ourselves to make a change right away, we can instead learn about

what we need to do to make a successful change.

Set a goal to explore your need to make a health related change,

Go to Page 2

BIO:

Dave Junno Psy.D. is a psychologist, coach and
author of Lowering High Cholesterol and Reducing
Your Risk of Heart Disease- READY OR NOT! To contact him
mail to: drjunno@drjunno.com or visit his website:
http://www.lower-high-cholesterol-ready-or-not.com and
sign-up for his free e-mail newsletter: Ready or Not.

Some Aditional Articles you may enjoy

The One New Year's Resolution To Make (And Keep)! by Melanie Jordan

Dr by S.M.Akerkar

As the primary care giver for an Alzheimer’s patient, how can I get a break? by William Hammond, J.D.

Eggs are healthful! by Dr. Donald A. Miller

Herbal hair loss remedies for external use. by Richard Mitchell

Click a Number to go to an article index page
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39