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No Excuses!
New Year's Resolution Action Plan
By Lynn Bode, CFT
Creating a new year's resolution can be a great idea, especially if you are resolving to get healthier (weight loss and exercise are the top resolutions made), but if you don't have an action plan it may be doomed before it ever gets started. Unfortunately, the majority of individuals who make a new year's resolution end up breaking it. By February, nearly half have already failed.
The following results, from a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, shows how many of these resolutions are maintained as time goes on:
- Past the first week: 75 percent
- Past 2 weeks: 71 percent
- After one month: 64 percent
- After 6 months: 46 percent
Don't let those statistics convince you to plop down on your couch with a bag of chips. The same study concluded that people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't explicitly make resolutions. So if you want to lose weight or just get more fit in the new year, then resolving to do so may be beneficial to you. Just make sure you have an action plan that helps ensure your success.
- Procrastinating: 33 percent
- Lack of discipline: 24 percent
- No game plan: 19 percent
Here is a specific action plan for diet- and fitness-related resolutions that will help eliminate these 3 top issues.
1. Find a positive support system. For some, family may be just what they need. But if your family members are struggling with the same diet or weight loss issues as you and aren't ready to commit themselves to change, then you might want to look elsewhere. Friends may also be an option, but again if they are struggling with their own issues then you might want to enlist other help. Try finding a local support group of like-minded people, go online for a virtual support group or seek out the help of a professional personal trainer or dietician.