A new year can mean a new start for your health. You can think of it as turning to a brand new page and starting fresh.
With this clean slate comes the need to be committed to achieving your health related goals. Even if in years gone by you never kept the resolutions you made for yourself at the start of the year, this year can be different for you because you can change that!
The good news about making New Year’s resolutions for your health is that they are within reach of attaining. According to University of Scranton psychology professor John C. Norcross, Ph.D. and the co-author of the book Changing for Good, approximately 40 to 46 percent of those who set resolutions for themselves at the start of a new year will be successful once they reach the six month halfway point of the year. While it would be nice if that percentage was higher it shows that making and keeping resolutions is most definitely doable!
The research also shows that those who make New Year’s resolutions are 10 times more likely to make positive changes in their lives as compared to those who do not make resolutions but who have similar goals and the motivation to achieve those goals.
It would appear then that you set up the appropriate mindset in your brain when you resolve to institute healthy changes in your life at the start of a new year. The motivation and drive can be even stronger when you begin on January 1st!
Starting and Maintaining are Not the Same Thing:
What then makes some people fail in their efforts and others succeed (and be in the 40 to 46 percent group)?
You need to understand that starting and being motivated in the first few days and weeks is not the same as what keeps you pressing on towards your goal and it is not what maintains the behavior in the long-term. Practically anyone can resolve to quit smoking, eat healthier, exercise more frequently or shed excess pounds. The real challenge is maintaining what you have started. How do you stick to it?
The stick to it attitude and mentality is thought of as adherence and is all about complying with the choice you have made and finding ways to maintain it. The exhilaration, enthusiasm and excitement of starting down this track of making a positive change in your life will wear off before long and what then are you left with?
It takes roughly three to six months for a change you are making in your life to become a part of your life routine. In part two we will look at some ways you can make sure that you honor your New Year’s resolutions and make those health changes that will better your life now!
Samantha
Alternative Health for Today 