First: SQUEEEEE! I figured out how to embed a YouTube video! It was all the fault of these mobile sites on my iPad. Tsk tsk.
Anyhow…
I have always been one for resolutions. Every year for the past two decades I’ve made a resolution to lose weight, become more active or eat healthier. Sometimes a combination of two or three, but always this trinity of choices.
Last year I made my resolution, kind of tongue in cheek. I had made the same resolution, to continue to lose weight on the slowest diet in the world by shedding between 1-2 pounds per month, as I had the previous three years. Then, late in January, I ‘met’ Katie from runsforcookies.com and realized I needed to take my resolution a little more seriously. So I did. You know the long story, but the cliff notes version for newbies is that I started moving a lot, very intentionally, making smart food choices, lost around 60 pounds and gained a whole new sense of self.
This week I have been thinking a lot about my diet bet, and how my friend who I am doing it with pointed out that every person she knew who was involved in the bet actually lost weight, thus ‘won’ the bet. I’ve been thinking resolutions are similar. Even if you don’t make it the whole year or meet your goal, most likely you made headway. This year you may not have made it past the planning phase, but next time you try you will be better prepared. This year you may have succumbed after 20 pounds and two months. This year you could do that again. Small goals. Baby steps. Small successes. Which brings me to the video.
Dr. Mike, from the video, points out that New Years resolutions absolutely work for a percentage of the people who adopt the practice. In fact, of the 41% of the people who made the resolutions, 46% of them were still working toward their resolutions six months later, as compared to 4% of the people who chose a random time to make a goal. With this study group, there was a ten times greater likelihood that they would be successful! He suggests that this is due to the feeling of community and the reflective nature of this unique and hopeful time of year. If you ever needed motivation as to why you should commit to your goals now, that seems proof enough to me! If I even have a smidgen of a greater chance at success simply based on when I declare my intentions, that seems like a pretty easy step to take. But ten times better chances? Sign me up.
So take a risk, make a goal, and jump. You never know, it could be the start of a brand new life.
Happy 2014!
Cheers for health and happiness!
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And if you liked what he said there…