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RESOLUTION SEASON IS HERE AGAIN, and many of us have begun evaluating our lives to decide which aspects need tweaking or overhauling. Some people may have a particular bad habit they’d like to kick, such as overeating or smoking. Others may wish to adopt a healthy habit, such as exercising more or spending more time with family. Still others may feel they have so many issues to overcome that nothing short of a complete lifestyle makeover will get the job done.
While the idea of breaking every bad habit and adopting a host of healthy ones may seem admirable, it’s not realistic. More often than not, this mindset leads to failure. So what’s a more practical, achievable approach to New Year’s resolutions? Try the following:
Take them one at a time
As the old saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” That’s good advice for those of us with more than one lifestyle change to implement. But how do you determine which one to tackle first? There are a few different ways to approach this decision.
One is to start with the change that has the most significant health or safety implications for you or others around you or that has the greatest impact on your relationships with family, friends, or coworkers. Make this resolution your highest priority, and don’t allow lesser concerns to distract you from it or overwhelm you so that you end up throwing in the towel altogether.
Another approach is to begin with a small, manageable resolution, such as going to bed early enough every night to ensure you get eight hours of sleep rather than staying up late binge-watching the latest series on Netflix. Achieving a small goal will give you a taste of success and the confidence boost you need in order to take on the more substantial ones.
Sometimes having only one lifestyle change to make can seem insurmountable if it’s an especially significant one. Rather than attempt to swallow the proverbial elephant whole, it helps to break the goal into “bitesize” pieces.
For example, if your resolution is to reduce your daily calorie intake and lose weight, you might start off by simply eliminating soda and other sugary beverages or by avoiding eating between dinner and breakfast the next morning. Again, small successes breed bigger ones. Once these changes become healthy habits, you can move on to other small goals that will lead you to your larger objective.
Those who would like to make numerous lifestyle changes could benefit from starting with one foundational change that makes it easier to achieve the others. Again, resolving to get a better night’s sleep is a good example here. Better rest at night gives you more energy for exercise; helps your body recover faster in between workout sessions; lowers stress; makes cravings more manageable so you’re less likely to reach for cigarettes, food, or alcohol; and provides a host of other physical, mental, and emotional benefits.
Get help
Unhealthy habits with an addictive component, such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or compulsive overeating, can be particularly difficult to overcome—and willpower alone may not be enough to carry you through. However, your chances of beating these problems will improve dramatically if you seek help in the form of professional counseling, a support group, and/ or a formal program for smoking or alcohol cessation, weight loss, etc. Any form of assistance that provides ongoing support and accountability will stack the odds of success in your favor. Your doctor or other healthcare professional is a great place to start. He or she can evaluate your current health status as well as connect you with helpful resources in your community.
Don’t lose faith too soon!
If you’re reading this and fear your resolution is already on shaky ground, don’t lose heart. There are bound to be stumbling blocks on the road to success, and there’s nothing stopping you from refocusing and picking up right where you left off. Here are some tips to help you on your way:
• Form a cheerleading squad of family and friends to help motivate you toward your goal.
• List the benefits of making a positive change on a sheet of paper and place the list where you’ll see it every day.
• Be on the alert for negative thoughts like “I’ll never be able to stick with this diet,” and be prepared to counter them with positive ones like “If I forego this cookie, I’ll be one step closer to fitting into that bathing suit.”
• Get plenty of sleep, at least eight hours a night.
• Learn to substitute behaviors when temptation arises. For example, plan ahead of time to take a ten-minute walk whenever you feel tempted to smoke or reach for the bag of potato chips.
• Reward your progress.
Establish desired milestones and give yourself healthy rewards when you reach them.
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