There’s a big reason so many New Year’s resolutions peter out soon after they’re made. Read how, starting now, your story can be different.
The problem begins right there in the name: New Year’s resolutions. What condition are most of us in on January 1st? We’re not just recovering from New Year’s Eve, we’re recovering from a whole holiday season of overindulgence. We’re quite likely to have taken time off time from work (or enjoyed a slow time at the office), and now, in the beginning of January, bosses, clients and co-workers all expect us to buckle down and catch up. Our physical condition is likely to be at a low point, and our workload at a high point. Under these conditions, what’s the likelihood of sticking to a brand-new resolution to spend lunchtime at the gym? Not good. It can be done, but it's not easy.
Right now – as we head into the holiday season – may be the best possible time to start on a new resolution. The first reason this is true is the obvious one: if you’re serious about accomplishing something, right now is always the time to start. But there are other reasons why starting a resolution before the holidays can be especially productive:
- Avoid digging yourself into a hole before you even begin – Let’s say you have a goal weight and you need to lose 20 pounds to reach it. You can start taking charge of your eating now, or you can wait until January 1st to begin, and need to lose 25 pounds to reach your goal, because you let yourself go over the holidays. Starting a weight loss resolution now doesn’t mean you have to spend Thanksgiving with a bowl of lettuce while everyone else is enjoying turkey and sweet potato pie. Your goal for the holidays can be to maintain, not gain. You can start with the crucial first step of keeping a food diary – writing down everything you eat and its estimated calories. That act alone will prevent eating on autopilot. When you look at your record of what you’ve eaten before dinner, you may realize that it wouldn’t be a great hardship to cut your entrée in half and save the rest for tomorrow.
- Tell everyone – The holidays are a time for connecting with family and friends, of letting everyone know what you’re up to. It is the perfect time to tell everyone about your resolution. Telling people about it makes it real. It forces you to think about how you’re going to make it happen. It gives friends and family a chance to share experiences, make suggestions, and offer to help. Which brings us to the next reason that it’s great to have a resolution during the holidays . . .
- Put support on your wish list – If you want to make a real change in your life, tell the folks who get you holiday gifts that what you want this year is their support. The key here is to be very specific. You can tell your spouse that he can stop worrying about finding the perfect gift, as long as he pledges to watch the kids three times a week so you can go to the gym. As your children’s gift to you, give them the task of ordering you to “do your homework” at a certain time each evening – whether your homework is working out, writing for your blog, or setting up your budget. What kid doesn’t love giving their parent homework? For other friends and family, their gift to you can be to formally commit to being your MIGHTY Team, to whom you report your progress every week or even every day.
- Use the down time – The holiday season can be hectic. But it almost always provides you with more down time than you’ll have in January. Use it to build a new healthy habit, to research the best ways to achieve your resolution, to create an action plan.
When the new year arrives, your resolution will already be a firm part of your life – and much more likely to stay that way.
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