Keys to keeping New Years resolutions

Terry Delaney,
Local Counsellor

Friday,  January 13, 2006

It has been a tradition across the world to ring in the New Year with resolutions to change for the better. Common resolutions include losing weight, exercising more and stopping smoking. 

Yet as the New Year moves along people begin to find it increasingly difficult to stick to their resolutions and by now many people may have given up.

Resolutions can be tough to keep and local counsellor, Terry Delaney, gives practical advice on how to be successful. 

“The best possible resolution to change is if it is motivated by yourself,” said Mr Delaney. 

“In other words, there is a greater risk of failure if you are doing it for your husband, girlfriend or children.”

For example if a woman is losing weight for herself and not just because her husband wants her too, she is more likely to be successful. 

Other factors to keeping a new year’s resolution, is to pick something that is obtainable and measurable.

“Pick something you can really do. If your resolution is to go to the gym for one and a half hours every day no matter what then you are going to get frustrated very quickly. It is just not realistic and you will end up dropping the whole thing.

“A resolution should be something you can really do and it should be measurable. It would be wonderful to love your girlfriend more, but unless you look at specific behaviours it is not a measurable goal,” he said. 

He said by attacking the resolution in small pieces it makes a big problem more doable. 

“If someone says ‘I am never going to touch a cigarette in my life’ it can be an overwhelming goal and makes it bigger than it really is. But if that individual makes a goal of giving up cigarettes for a month and then at the end of that month extend that goal to another month then it is much more realistic to accomplish,” he said. 

He added that many people would slip up, so it is important not to give up altogether. 

“It is important to be committed, but if you fall into old patterns do not overreact, but just get right back on it. For example if you quit smoking, but then you slip up and have a cigarette, instead of a feeling of failure and giving up they should get right back on their programme,” Mr Delaney advised.

“Another pitfall is if someone is dieting and they have Haagan Daaz one night, it doesn’t mean the whole year is blown and you don’t need to give up,” he said. 

It is also important to put a measurable goal on the resolution such as the amount of weight to be lost. 

Another strategy in being successful is taking a positive approach. 

“Rather than saying I am going to diet, say to yourself I will eat healthy,” he added. “It is also important to reward yourself. If you are going to diet for 30 days, at the end of 30 days get a massage or buy yourself a gift. Rewards are very important even with ourselves.”

shurna@caymannetnews.com

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