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Sarah116 · Jan 03, 2007, 07:39 PM

<blockquote><div id="quote">Quote:
AlliKamikaze said:
I try not to make the traditional kind.
It's too easy to disappoint yourself.
Instead, I try to start the new year on a new ambitious note and I give myself things to try or start working on.
Trying is much easier to accomplish than promising.

So if you ask me, to make the resolutions work, you may have to adjust your way of thinking and avoid making such hard promises.
For example:
Eat right. 

I figure most people want that, but I can only imagine that a miniscule percentage of people actually follow it.

Instead I suggest focusing on one small attribute at a time or saying something like:

- Eat more fruits and vegetables. (although that might be a personal preference for me because I love fruits lol)

- Eat less chocolate (this one can still be challenging, but I see it as a step up from "stop eating chocolate" all together)

- Try more foods (this is one of mine actually, I think it can help you find healthier foods that you like just as much as some unhealthy ones, as well as varying your diet so that you get a broader mix)

Or for excercise:
 Get back in shape 
 Excercise everyday 

Are the most common I hear, even from my mom.
I think a better one for most people is something like:

- Join a dance class (or make it less specific like 'join a sport' if you're not sure of something to do to get in shape)

 Run with Mom (I hate running myself, and this was not one of my resolutions although it could have been, but I think it's better because it isn't restricted with when and how long. But it serves as a bit of a good thing to do when the opportunity comes up and you feel up to it. And sometimes when I'm actually out with my mom running some where, I do enjoy talking to her, even though I hate the running itself lol)

Anyway, in my opinion, those little updates are much more likely to work because

A. You avoid breaking resolutions within hours or days of making them. (Many of them don't have to be done at a specific time, this leaves you time to get around to it, and even if you feel like you're not following your resolutions a little better, you can look at the calendar and see that you still have time to try and follow them)
B. They aren't overly specific and so they are more open to other ideas that might interest you more later. (For example: if I said "Try New Italian Foods" instead of any new foods, I might not have as many new italian foods available to me as I do (say) Chinese foods, but feeling restricted to only Italian foods forces me to choose from a smaller selection of those Italian foods available, and can ultimately make me not want to try very many at all)
C. They aren't promises to break. I think resolutions are looked upon too often as "well, let me see how long can I keep it", where I think it would be so much more helpful if it was, how well can I do, or how good of a job can I do. (For example: saying "Excercise everyday" is an extremely one to break. In the event that you are sick, or just too busy and overly tired to excercise, you've already broken it, and without really meaning to. Some people might continue with that resolution looking at that day as an exception or extenuating circumstances. But with that one day breaking your commitment, it makes it all that much easier to blow it off next time, you really just dont want to do it. Your mind will easily remind you that "well, I've already broken my resolution so what difference will it make now" and then you've pretty much ruined any chance of following it anymore. Instead of timestamping each of your resolutions, your more likely to keep them if you use words like "do something more" "do something else less" More, less, or even words like continue, keep, and try will make your resolutions more attainable, and thus more rewarding for you.)
D. You get a second chance to try again. You can look at the whole year to work on something instead of just looking at the day when you broke a resolution. (Example: Your resolution is to bike more often. Even if, for a while you're feeling lazy, and procrastinating, you still have a chance to redeem yourself and make up for it. I think this is so much more beneficial then forcing yourself to do something right on time until you don't, and then to give up completely on it.)

Anyway... this is ending up really long and in-depth. But I guess, I've been thinking about this for a while lately. Especially for my mom, who always makes resolutions to excercise and eat better.

But for those of you said you couldn't motivate yourself to keep any resolutions, or that you hated making them because you always felt guilty about breaking them sooner or later. This is my suggestion and it has always helped me. It probably won't change your minds, but I thought it might change the way you think about your resolutions at the very least.

Trust me, the sense of improvement and accomplishment is so much better then the guilt of breaking each one right away. I've done a lot of thought about this and I really think that the way I make my resolutions has a lot to do with how well I'm able to keep them, so I'll share my ways if it helps.

Good luck!

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