Keeping Your New Years Resolutions?

The first quarter of 2007 is over. If you're still keeping to your new year's resolutions, then congratulations! Chances are, if you have kept them going for three months, you will incorporate them into your lifestyle on a permanent basis.

If you're like most people, however, you probably stopped keeping your resolutions in the middle of January, and you may not even remember what they were. I always notice that my health club is extremely crowded during the first few weeks of January, and then it tapers off to where it usually is by Valentine's Day. Exercise and eating-related resolutions are the most common, and usually the most challenging to stick to. How often do you hear someone say, "I made a new year's resolution to exercise back in 1998, and ever since then, I've been going to the gym 4-5 times per week!" It's rare.

The spring is the perfect time to jump-start your new year's resolutions, or even to create new ones. In order to be successful, it's important to figure out why you couldn't stick to them in the first place. Here are some common reasons why most people do not keep their resolutions, and what you can do to avoid these pitfalls.

Too Many Resolutions
When you create too many resolutions, it's unrealistic to expect that you are going to make so many changes at once. Figure out which resolutions are most important to you and focus on those-- no more than three, and even three is pushing it. Once you've successfully incorporated these resolutions into your life, then you can tackle others on that longer list.

When you focus your efforts on fewer top-priority resolutions, you aren't distracted by goals that aren't as important to you. Additionally, you won't feel overwhelmed and pressured to make so many changes in your life.

Unrealistic Resolutions
Start small. If your resolution is to exercise five times a week, and you currently aren't doing any exercise, then such a drastic change is unlikely to occur. And because you aren't going five times a week, you may consider the resolution a failure and stop going entirely. Just like when you create too many resolutions, if your resolutions are too demanding or taxing, then you will quickly become discouraged and give up entirely.

For example if you think you eat too much candy and resolve that you are going to eliminate it completely from your diet, your resolution will probably not last very long. Instead, resolve to eat candy only once or twice per week, or on certain occasions. Take a look at your resolutions and determine if they are realistic for you. Can you honestly picture yourself sticking to them for an extended period of time? Or are they too lofty to really incorporate into your life?

Unspecific or Broad Resolutions
Let's say your resolution is to spend more time with your family. What does that mean, exactly? What counts as "spending time with the family", and how much more time do you want to spend with them? This resolution is far too vauge for you to take real action upon it. You'll find it easier to keep resolutions that are specific and well-defined. A revision of this family resolution would be "take the kids to the park for at least an hour each weekend". Now you have something you can actually act upon.

When your resolutions aren't specific enough, you might not know how to go about incorporating them into your life. For example, it might sound easy enough to "eat healthier" but what does that mean and how will you do it? A revised resolution would be "eat apples as snacks instead of potato chips".

Unmeasurable Resolutions
How will you measure your success? Having a measurable goal and a way to evaluate your progress on a regular basis will provide accountability. Using numbers when developing your resolution will help keep you on track-- this also goes along with having specific resolutions. Some examples might be to "put an extra $100 into a savings account each month" or "eat five servings of vegetables each day".

When you have measurable goals, you can easily track your progress. With the five vegetables a day example, you could keep a spreadsheet where you record how many servings of vegetables you eat each day. When you see yourself succeeding at your resolutions on paper, you'll feel great about what you have achieved, and it will motivate you to continue to keep up the good work. Once a resolution is incorporated into your lifestyle, you won't need to track your progress-- it will become second nature, like a habit. Once you become accustomed to eating more vegetables on a regular basis, you'll start automatically eating them more without having to track it.

If you haven't kept your new years resolutions, it's time to revisit and revise them. Try this new approach for three months, and assess yourself again at the beginning of the next quarter.