Forget the New Years Resolution

“You only make them when you are drunk and then you forget about them, on New Years Eve, you have great intentions and that’s it,” adds Georgina. Well intentioned---but poorly planned for success. “They tend to fail when people don’t put a lot of thought into what the resolutions are, resolutions take a lot of time and change takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of consideration,” says Dr. Pio Andreotti, a psychologist at Long Island College Hospital.

Many resolutions are health related: Lose weight…exercise more….get the cholesterol down… Stop smoking! Always a difficult resolution that usually is met with failure. Which is why, many experts will say, forget the resolutions; one should simply work on what they already know they need to work on. “People really need to be honest with themselves about how motivated they are to actually make a change,” says Dr. Andreotti.

Still, Dr. Andreotti believes there is a place for reasonable resolutions. “People tend to fail a lot more when there are absolutes “ I will stop doing this, it is really unrealistic for somebody that has difficulty with weight to believe they will get to the gym everyday for themselves, and it is a lot of pressure to put on themselves, so what is more reasonable is I will find a trainer, I will find somebody to go to the gym with, I will join a gym and go once a week and that is usually more realistic than saying I will go every day.”

So either make the resolution a long term plan, as with Nola McCarthy:“Giving up smoking and giving up the drinking, took maybe three to four years, not the first year,” she says. Or, make the resolution one easily achieved this year. “My New Year’s resolution is to change my attitude and become a little more friendlier,” says William. “My new years resolution is to be a better person than I was last year, try to take care of my kids a little better,” states Leroy.

 One University of Washington researcher says take credit for success when you achieve a resolution…but it is a mistake to blame yourself if you fail. Instead, look at the barriers that were in your way. See how you can do better the next time and figure out a better plan to succeed. And you get an unlimited number of tries throughout the year, not only at New Year’s.