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Tips for Keeping New Year’s Resolutions

January is the time for making New Year’s resolutions, but some people struggle to be successful with them.

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.  Jill Koester (Cus’-ter), mental health counselor at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield, explains the type of resolutions that are likely to be successful.

SOUND BITE: “. . . I think the resolutions that don’t have a pass fail type mechanism to them where once you have not done what you have vowed to do, then it’s over.  If you can look at the whole year and make a goal of this year – I would like to do something more than last year. And maybe a goal that is attainable and something that you are very motivated to change.”

To be successful with resolutions, it’s important to have specific goals that are realistic and achievable.  Develop a plan for achieving the goals and stay motivated.   Koester offers this advice for getting started.

SOUND BITE: “When we talk about goal setting in any therapeutic way, we look at writing the goals down, being able to talk to other people about the fact that you’re making the goal.  That makes you more accountable to what you want to do and then setting some small strategies that might help you reach that goal as well as some things that might get in the way, so that you can realistically visualize not only the goal and the end result, but the journey on the way there, too . . .”

Koester 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 their health improvement goals may want to consult their primary care physician or mental health counselor for help.

This is Ruth Slottag at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.