Common Sense Observations

New Year Resolutions: Ways to have fun and keep yours

Making New Year resolutions is as much a part of January 1^st as giving gifts is a part of December 25^th. Unfortunately, failing to keep New Year resolutions is almost as common as making them. If you’d like to keep your 2009 New Year resolutions, here are a few things to keep in mind.

 

Ushering in the New Year with a list of self-improving resolutions is a fine idea. It’s a really natural concept, if you think about it. The year is new and fresh, and it’s good time to put old things behind and start anew. But it’s not really a magical time of the year when, if we say we’ll do something, we’ll absolutely do it. So the first thing to bear in mind when making your New Year resolutions is to be realistic. First, keep the list of resolutions realistic. Second, keep the list short.

 

If you’re twenty pounds overweight, and your number one New Year resolution is to lose weight, don’t commit to losing twenty pounds by January 31^st. Rather, pick a realistic goal like three pounds by January’s end. This way, your motivation will remain high, and you’ll most likely succeed. Your success will give you the foundation to keep losing weight for the rest of the year. Success is a great motivator!

 

If you really want to keep your New Year resolutions in 2009, then make it a serious (and fun) project. Make a list of your resolutions – and then edit it. Don’t just keep adding to the list. Pare off some of the things out of deference to more important goals. Try to end up with a list that has five items or less. If you’re list has twenty resolutions, you likely will not even be able to remember them all – much less succeed at them all. Once you start to fail at items on your list, the failure will spread to other items. Nothing breeds failure like failure.

 

Try to list and achieve less gargantuan New Year resolutions. It might sound good to list: quit smoking; lose weight; re-roof the house – and climb Mount Everest, but your chances of accomplishing all of these goals diminishes each time you add one. Consider New Year resolutions such as: spend more time with the kids; do something special for my spouse each month; spend one hour a week less playing video games or watching TV; go for a walk once a week, or maybe quit eating (your fast food, snack food or candy obsession goes here) so often.

 

Remember that list of 2009 New Year resolutions you worked so hard to compile and edit? Be sure to read it occasionally. Perhaps consider putting it on your refrigerator door, or your desk. If you accomplish one of the resolutions, then cross it off, but leave it on the list. Success breeds success, and you should be reminded of your achievement.

 

Share some or all of your 2009 New Year resolutions with family or friends. Chances are they’ll help you remember them. Think of it as a support system. Kids are great at reminding adults of their spoken commitments, though they can be a tad tactless, even acerbic, at times.

 

If you’d like to try something new on this year’s list of New Year resolutions, try making one with someone. That is to say, make a New Year resolution with your spouse to spend 30-minutes every weekend just talking, or playing a game, or walking together. Perhaps make a resolution with one of your children about doing something special together every week. Maybe make one with your in-laws about not arguing so much, or a productive one with a co-worker. The opportunities are endless, and the chances of success are amplified by the fact that two people will be directing attention to the same resolution.

 

Making New Year resolutions is not a necessity. It is not something you have to do to be accepted. Not making New Year resolutions does not make you a bad person, and does not leave you desperate and ostracized. It’s simply part of the holiday of the New Year. It’s supposed to be fun – while at the same time being rewarding.

 

A 2009 New Year resolution is like a promise you make to yourself. Keeping promises made to anyone is quite important. But keeping promises to yourself is absolutely critical. So make realistic, rewarding, fun promises to yourself, and then keep them. After all, if you can’t count on yourself, who can you count on?