Try Something New in 2010

Look up any aggregate list of New Year’s Resolutions and you will see the same stuff show up year after new year. With some jockeying in position, the top resolutions are:

1) Lose weight
2) Start exercising/get in shape
3) Quit smoking/drinking/taking drugs
4) Spend more time with family (versus work life)
5) Invest money better/save more money

The lines at health clubs will never be longer than they are this week—and then it will be back to normal.

We tend to last a week, maybe two—and then we revert to old habits, old routines and ingrained programming that sends us back to behaviors that are self destructive.

So, how do we break the pattern?

The experts (and by “experts” I mean behavioral psychologists) say that our issues are three-fold:

A) We make too many resolutions
B) We don’t break these resolutions down to their component parts—or achievable goals.
C) We don't reinforce good behaviors by rewarding ourselwes along the way

So, the key perhaps is to focus on ONE thing and then dedicate our full attention to the achievement of that ONE goal. After all, at the end of 2010, would you rather have made 10 resolutions and broken ALL of them—or just ONE—and accomplished that singular goal?

The answer is easy, but that still leaves us with the nuts and bolts of how-to. The avoidance of feelings of failure is part of the goal. Notice that I didn’t say “failure”—I said FEELINGS of failure. Failure is part of the process.

Time to insert a quick motivational video on failure—watch this!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tjYoKCBYag

So, it is not failure that is the problem—it is QUITTING. Giving up. Throwing in the towel.

And maybe that tired old resolution needs to be re-crafted into something that is definitive and fresh.

For instance, suppose your resolution for 2010 is to: “Lose Weight”
This is unachievable because it is so non-specific. If you lose ONE OUNCE from 1/1/10 to 12/31/10, you have technically achieved your goal.

Instead, make the resolution SPECIFIC, ACTION-ORIENTED and TIME BOUND.

So, “lose weight” could be re-crafted to be:

“I RESOLVE TO LOSE 15 POUNDS IN 2010 AND TO KEEP IT OFF. I WILL ACHIEVE THIS RESULT AS FOLLOWS:

1) I will lose 3 pounds a month from January-May—with a buffer month, so that by June 1st I will have reached my goal of 15 pounds.
2) I will achieve this goal—and will maintain it from July-December by doing the following 3 things:
A) I will give up desserts
B) I will workout w/ cardio 3X per week
C) If I achieve both A & B in any given week, I will reward myself with ONE dessert at the end of the month.


Obviously, the parameters and rewards are up to you, but we all need mini-goals—and we need to reward ourselves for achievement along the way.

We’ve all heard that one definition of insanity is repeating the same behaviors and expecting a different result.

2010 is a time to switch it up! Try something new—and good luck to you!

If you’d like my blog in your weekday e-mail inbox, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com