New Years Resolutions

During the start of the New Year most people make resolutions about lifestyle changes – mainly covering giving up smoking, starting an exercise programme, losing weight, starting healthy eating habits, coping with stress at work etc.

However, still filled with good intentions, by January 3rd these resolutions either fail or falter. So, where did New Years Resolutions start from?

The tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions dates back to the Babylonians, whose most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment!

The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece around 600 BC. It was their tradition at that time to celebrate their god of wine, Dionysus, by parading a baby in a basket, representing the annual rebirth of that god as the spirit of fertility. Early Egyptians also used a baby as a symbol of rebirth.

The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the New Year was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century.

Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for people to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year’s Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.

So what would help us stick to our New Year’s Resolutions? The following strategies have been suggested:

Experts have shown that designing a detailed plan will dramatically increase your success rate. For example, a crew cannot construct a building without a detailed plan. Why should you view your health programme any differently?

Recording-your-personal-baseline
A baseline is a measurement of the existing behaviour and noting when and how often that behaviour occurs before treatment. Examples include, how often and when a person uses tobacco, or eats high calorie foods, or displays outbursts of anger. The baseline measurement of the behaviour will help you set realistic goals and identify future improvement-levels.

Triggers
A trigger is simply anything that causes or increases the likelihood of behaviour. Therefore, if we know when and what is motivating behaviour, we can create future interventions by planning alternative coping mechanisms.

Learn-by-looking-at-your-past
If you have attempted to change your behaviour in the past but have not succeeded, what exactly went wrong? What will be different this time? Therefore, when you previously tried to reach a goal, you should have learned something about yourself and the behaviour, which can be applied, to your new attempt.

Plan-specifically-for-stress-management
Two of the most frequently cited reasons for personal failure are inadequate time management and/or increased levels of stress. Changing behaviour is hard enough without the additional difficulty of trying to balance out work, interpersonal relationships, family, and everyday life situations. Unfortunately, when things get stressful, people often relapse back to their old unhealthy behaviour’s. Knowing this ahead of time, you must plan and prepare strategies for such future events.

Develop-a-support-system-for-your-resolution
Research concludes that the people who succeed at making lifestyle changes typically have exceptional support systems. Consequently, telling others about your goals and objective increases your accountability to the behaviour. From the very start, you should begin by telling those around you about your fitness programme, this way you will increase your likelihood of success by enlisting greater levels of support. This contract will not only increase the support of those around you but it will also make your commitment public and help to convince both you and others that you are serious about this-change.

As part of the strategy explained above, initiate ways to increase the involvement of others in your efforts. For example, you could always lure a friend into joining and committing to behaviour with you. Having someone to work-out with or quit smoking with can drastically boost your success rate. No matter if it a spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, roommate, co- worker, or even an acquaintance, being accountable to someone other than yourself-will-help-to-keep-you-on-track.

The-programme-for-success-and-maintenance
With any new venture or attempt it is imperative to have the right mental attitude. For instance, winners always have the mindset that their goals are possible and within reach. Not everyone has this positive outlook, but it can be improved through both positive self-talk and visualization. Thus, you must visualize yourself already achieving your new lifestyle. You must develop a mental image of who you want to become and then act as if you are that person. See yourself as a non-smoker, as a fit & healthy person.

Reward-yourself-frequently
Starting an exercise regime can be physically and mentally draining, with few immediate results. An effective coping method would be to link an alternate activity that you find personally rewarding with your exercises. Therefore, you should find something to look forward to that can be combined or achieved with your exercise programme. Choose something that makes you feel intrinsically great about your exercise commitment and you will increase you chances of success. Whether it is a deserving massage, hot tub, or a satisfying healthy meal, your behaviour needs reinforcement so you can feel good about your-effort.

Provide-a-Visual-Record
Another way to increase your success and motivation is to keep a visual record of your accomplishments. This can be done by simply writing on a calendar or using a daily progress chart. : Although, most people today choose to track their achievements and setbacks by writing in a daily journal. The journal works because it further holds you accountable to your daily behaviours. Therefore, if you write about your efforts, then you are more likely to follow through on your goals.