Well, the champagne is gone, the ball has dropped, the fireworks are over and it’s been 5 days…. have you kept your New Years Resolution?

Lose weight, stop smoking, exercise, shower more often, whatever you ‘resolved’, have you already compromised that resolve?  What happened?  Why is it so easy to fall off the resolve wagon?  Is it that you really don’t want to change?  Is it that people never really change? 

If the change you need is so great that you feel the necessity to make it an official annual announcement and proclamation, wouldn’t it seem logical to think that you should be able to accomplish the goal?

I believe that change is possible and is probably the very thing you need or you wouldn’t have made it.  Here are some suggestions to help you keep any resolution;

• Tell people about your resolution.  The more people who know your goal, the more likely you are to find support for it.
• Partner up!  Accountability goes a long way toward success when it comes to the more difficult changes in one’s life.  Honesty with you rpartner will take that step even further.
• The resolution must be specific.  To resolve to ‘be a better person’ is perhaps too vague and would be difficult to gauge.  A better resoltion along those lines would be to resolve to be more generous to the needy by giving time and resources to the homeless on a regular basis.  Name specific dollar amounts or number of volunteer hours as part of your goal.
• The resolution should be reasonable.  If you are 100 lbs. overweight, it would not be reasonable to resolve to lose 100 pounds by summer.  Any change you make must be reasonably attainable or you will quikly lose heart.
• Make the resolution time-bound.  Vague resolutions with no milestones are difficult to keep.  Make and set goals along the way.  Keep record of successes and failures as you work through the change.
• Reward good efforts.  Make plans for real reward that does not interfere with the resolution.  For example, if you resolve to lose weight and drop 5 lbs., don’t celebrate with a large cheesecake and a coke.

If you have had success with resolutions, New Years or other, I would like you to share your story here!  Likewise, if you have had problems keeping resolutions, share your pitfalls to help others learn from your mistakes.

By the way, I resolve to BLOG at WGMD.com on a regular basis.  My short term goal is to BLOG at least bi-weekly and eventually move into BLOGGING weekly.  I welcome you all to be my accountability partners and email me if I falter at jmixon@delmarvadj.com.

Oh, boy,… now I’ve done it.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 5th, 2007 at 9:10 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.