1/11/05

Tips for Keeping New Year's Resolutions

January is the time for making New Year’s resolutions, but many of them are never accomplished because they are not realistic.

Every January many people make New Year's resolutions to improve their lives or stop bad habits. Some people resolve to lose weight, quit smoking or spend more time with families. Michael Schwartz, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, explains why many of these resolutions are not successful.

SOUND BITE: "A lot of people set themselves up to fail because their resolutions are overly idealistic and they are not realistic. So that they carry it out for a certain period of time, but then they drop it somewhere along the line. And maybe there’s an unconscious reason for this, they really don’t want to follow their own resolution, but ah, so they make it overly rigid and then they forget to do it."

To be successful with your resolutions, it's important to have specific written goals that are realistic and achievable. Develop a plan for achieving the goals. Think through the obstacles that may get in the way, and break it down to make it less intimidating says Schwartz.

SOUND BITE: ". . . they need to think through the issues. What’s more important – give up eating a lot or looking better, and if you want to look better, why do you want to look better? Do you want to look better in order to be the center of attraction to a lot of people. If so and you accept that, it’s more likely you’ll follow through on your resolution."

Schwartz encourages people be make the kinds of resolutions that are meaningful to them, which will make them more successful. Anyone who has difficulty in achieving health improvement goals may want to consult their primary care physician or mental health counselor for help.