New Year’s Resolutions
and Stress

Making New Year’s resolutions may help a few people make some positive changes in their lives. Every New Year's Eve the tradition of setting goals and making decisions to live and work better begins. Usually, the motivation to utilize the resolutions wears off by March. The more common ones include such decisions as starting a personal & wellness program, which may include diet, exercise, decreasing alcohol intake, stopping smoking, and so on. All of these are valuable for developing resilience, which helps with managing stress. My best advice to help you
keep the resolutions listed below.
PROBLEMS WITH RESOLUTIONS

Many resolutions are oftentimes more of a wish or desire to be different in some way. But a wish is not a decision to change. Also, “all-or-nothing” thinking about the resolutions sets up cycles of feelings that include remorse and guilt if you don't follow through.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT YOUR DECISION TO CHANGE

Five helpful steps:
1. Set realistic goals, and instead of attempting to stop certain behaviors, it is better to set positive goals. In other words, do not try to stop smoking but do resolve to breathe healthier and live better. Take “baby steps” to reach the goals.

2. Use a sense of humor and a perspective that does not include an all-or-nothing attitude. You are not going to gain 10 pounds because you ate one Big Mac! One " bad behavior" does not make you a non-dieter again. It makes you a person who just ate a tasty burger and has decided to limit that behavior.

3. Decide on your method of living healthier and stick to it in moderation. Avoid high, rigid standards and look at "slips&quot for just what they are. For example, your five weeks of dieting is not a total loss if you overdo it one day. Aim for moderate goals like eating healthier and losing weight at a gradual pace.

4. Even if you don’t totally meet your goal, reducing the damage you may be
doing to your health is still a positive step. This is referred to as “harm reduction” since you have lowered your risk of health problems, and it may help you meet your ultimate goal at a later point in time.

Summary:
Set positive goals; break the decisions down into small steps; avoid an all-or-nothing
attitude, and reward yourself for the progress made. Remember the best decision rule--Instead of worrying about whether you made the best decision or not, make the best of the decision you've made.