NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS ANYONE?

Sorry that I didn't get back to my posting on January 8 as I indicated. I have been dealing with a family health crisis that took my full attention. In the meantime, however, I have been checking for comments and see that I have a couple in a foreign language that I don't understand. Can anyone translate these into English? I'd love to respond if these are legitimate and if I know what they mean. Otherwise I will just think positively that someone missed my blog and was wondering where I was.

Did you make any New Year's resolutions? A lot of people don't and those that do often don't continue with their efforts for long. I will post a few comments to put resolutions into a "stress" perspective.

First, if you made a resolution, did you look at how realistic it is? Also, is it specific enough to follow up on? Many people resolve to lose weight, exercise more, and other "desired" behaviors. There is a difference between "desire" and goal. Many of us have a wish list of what we would like. A true goal differs from a wish in the action we take. Wishes are those things that we are not really serious enough about to either start or continue taking action to achieve. With a goal the change we want to make needs to be achievable and measurable. Are your expectations or desires achievable? Have you made the goal specific enough in terms of the result and time to be achieved? For example, you may wish to get rid of some weight. How much do you want to release and in what amount of time? By being specific you can tell whether or not you have achieved your goal.

Next you need to make a plan for specific actions to take in order to reach your goal. For example, you may decide to "drink more water". What would this look like in terms of action? Perhaps you want to work up to drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. In order to be successful and thus avoid the stress of negative thinking about failure, it is best to start with small steps that add up to the end result. Step 1 is probably to assess how much you currently drink a day. Step 2 might be to add one more glass than that per day, doing this until you are succeeding at this step on a regular daily basis. Once Step 2 is achieved it is important to acknowledge your success and then plan and take the next step, perhaps adding one more glass of water per day. Decide on how and when you are going to add this into your schedule. Continue on this path until you are successful and achieve your eventual goal.

Perhaps you notice you are stuck at Step 2 (or even 1). Fine, accept this as an observation. Then ask yourself about your intention. Do you really want to achieve the goal or is it more of a "wish"? If you decide it is a true goal, then get back on the wagon and start again where you left off. Do this without beating yourself up. It is what it is. You can change if you really choose to do so. You may need to look at what is blocking or interfering with your success. Next you may want to modify your plan in terms of specific action or time-line.

One way to help you be successful is to set up some reminders throughout your day. Perhaps a sign, object, or post-it note strategically placed would do the trick. You may wish to schedule in a reminder on your computer or in your planner. Finally a way to enhance your commitment is to tell others of your resolution and enlist their support to remind you gently or ask how things are going. Lastly, don't forget to build in a reward or periodic acknowledgment of your successes.

INTENTION is a major key to success. One way to strengthen this is to imagine or picture yourself as you would be on successfully achieving your goal. Doing this at the beginning of each day could be a key action to take. Then at night you could review your success that day and picture your action for the next day.

I'd love to hear from any of you in terms of your resolutions, frustrations, or successes so please feel free to comment or email me (in English please).

I have one request of you my readers. The family health challenge I am dealing with will be ongoing for quite a while. I will post a blog as often as I can and will aim for one blog every other week. That is my current goal starting today, so please tune in and I will keep you posted. Thanks.