According to a random telephone survey conducted by Stephen Shapiro, president of Goalfree.com, with the assistance of Opinion Research Corp. of Princeton N.J, 45% of Americans set New Year’s Resolutions. The result is an 8% success rate. Why are New Year’s Resolutions so unsuccessful? From the beginning, setting a New Year's Resolution is a recipe for defeat. The basis of such a yearly evaluation is good, but as Americans we generally don’t set goals that will actually increase our happiness. And thus, we end up discarding our goals feeling resentful or defeated. "Albert Einstein once defined common sense as 'the collection of prejudices acquired by age 18,'" says Shapiro. "In this sense, too many Americans are using too much 'common sense' when setting their annual goals. Why not -- this year, as an experiment -- set goals that are chosen to bring joy and success in the New Year? Instead of setting goals based on supposed 'faults' or 'flaws' that your parents or your spouse might want you to 'correct'-- why not set goals that can lead to your own, individual happiness, instead of just conforming to the often misguided, if well-meaning, expectations of others?" 34% of Americans set a resolution related to their income, 38% to their body, 47% involve self-improvement and 31% have resolutions that involve a relationship or dating. While advancement in all of these areas is undoubtedly respectable, we need to maintain awareness so we don’t become so enamored with achieving a goal that we forget to enjoy the present moment. If we put all of our hope and efforts into a future that never comes, we will have squandered all our happiness. If you have to set a New Year’s Resolution, resolve to live in the present moment. The past is always behind us and the future will never come. We only have the present.
At the same time, it is good to set year-round realistic goals in your life:
• Goals should be lofty enough to motivate us into action, but not so excessive that we are constantly left feeling defeated or underachieved.
• Try to make simple daily, weekly, and even monthly goals.
• Don’t make all the goals about money and achievements or exercise and diet.
• Accomplishing simple, daily goals can be more rewarding that a goal that has been pursued for months. It’s the little things that are going to add up in the end, both for you and for the people in your life.
• Daily goals can be as simple as finishing a to-do list, reading another chapter of a book, smiling at a stranger, or getting to work without getting angry at all of the bad drivers on the road around you.
These rules still apply if you are setting goals involving weight loss, exercising, or better nutrition:
• Set goals for the long-haul. Don’t go on a crash diet or exercise craze to drop a size in two weeks. Recognize that our bodies can only do so much, so fast and we shouldn’t put unnecessary stress on them.
• When setting a goal to work out 3x a week: Put 2 “definite” workouts in your weekly planner that you will have no excuses to miss. Put 2 “optional” workout times in your planner. If at the end of the week, you have worked out twice, then congratulate yourself. You didn’t hit 3, but you’re still on your way. Fill in the 2 “definite” and 2 “optional” for the next week.
• Recognize that pant size is a more realistic evaluation of your fitness progress than the scale. One pound of muscle takes up 1/7th of the amount of room as one pound of fat. Therefore, it is possible to gain weight, but still have lost fat and pant size. Your best bet is to avoid the scale all-together.
• Losing 1 lb of fat per week can be a realistic goal with sufficient exercise and proper diet (high in protein sources, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates and low in sugars).
• Don’t exercise and eat with the thought of atonement on your mind. If this is your case, your workouts and eating habits will always consist of making up for the previous day and will always have a negative undertone.
• Let yourself splurge and don’t beat yourself up for it. Complete deprivation will only lead to binging down the road. When tempted with a dietary splurge, ask yourself the following question: Do I really want this? If yes, then take a small portion, eat slowly and enjoy it fully. If no, then pass and allow yourself the opportunity to splurge on something else.
• Finally, the subject of genetics. There are certain aspects of our bodies that we cannot change without surgery. If surgery is out of the question, then dwelling is not going to change anything. We need to learn to accept our bodies and body types and celebrate ourselves for our individuality and unique qualities.
At the same time, it is good to set year-round realistic goals in your life:
• Goals should be lofty enough to motivate us into action, but not so excessive that we are constantly left feeling defeated or underachieved.
• Try to make simple daily, weekly, and even monthly goals.
• Don’t make all the goals about money and achievements or exercise and diet.
• Accomplishing simple, daily goals can be more rewarding that a goal that has been pursued for months. It’s the little things that are going to add up in the end, both for you and for the people in your life.
• Daily goals can be as simple as finishing a to-do list, reading another chapter of a book, smiling at a stranger, or getting to work without getting angry at all of the bad drivers on the road around you.
These rules still apply if you are setting goals involving weight loss, exercising, or better nutrition:
• Set goals for the long-haul. Don’t go on a crash diet or exercise craze to drop a size in two weeks. Recognize that our bodies can only do so much, so fast and we shouldn’t put unnecessary stress on them.
• When setting a goal to work out 3x a week: Put 2 “definite” workouts in your weekly planner that you will have no excuses to miss. Put 2 “optional” workout times in your planner. If at the end of the week, you have worked out twice, then congratulate yourself. You didn’t hit 3, but you’re still on your way. Fill in the 2 “definite” and 2 “optional” for the next week.
• Recognize that pant size is a more realistic evaluation of your fitness progress than the scale. One pound of muscle takes up 1/7th of the amount of room as one pound of fat. Therefore, it is possible to gain weight, but still have lost fat and pant size. Your best bet is to avoid the scale all-together.
• Losing 1 lb of fat per week can be a realistic goal with sufficient exercise and proper diet (high in protein sources, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates and low in sugars).
• Don’t exercise and eat with the thought of atonement on your mind. If this is your case, your workouts and eating habits will always consist of making up for the previous day and will always have a negative undertone.
• Let yourself splurge and don’t beat yourself up for it. Complete deprivation will only lead to binging down the road. When tempted with a dietary splurge, ask yourself the following question: Do I really want this? If yes, then take a small portion, eat slowly and enjoy it fully. If no, then pass and allow yourself the opportunity to splurge on something else.
• Finally, the subject of genetics. There are certain aspects of our bodies that we cannot change without surgery. If surgery is out of the question, then dwelling is not going to change anything. We need to learn to accept our bodies and body types and celebrate ourselves for our individuality and unique qualities.
