Another year has gone by and most people I have talked with are hoping for a better and happier New Year. It is that time for the tradition of making resolutions to try and make sure the New Year is a better one. The one post on media outlets on the descriptions of a New Year’s resolution that caught my humorous eye was; “A resolution is a’ to do list’ for the first week of January.” Some ‘research’ on the subject shows that roughly 90% of resolutions made by individuals are forgotten by the end of January, or first week in February. I have to admit I am in that category.
I wrote my resolutions down last year to make sure I remembered them. Out of a dozen hopeful resolutions I missed every one of them. The only one that came close was the resolution to lose 15 pounds. I didn’t lose 15 pounds, but the good part of the resolution is that I didn’t gain any pounds. So, I am starting over in the same place this year.
With the reporting of how many resolutions fall by the wayside I started to think if there was some way I could find a better way of making a more concentrated effort to keeping my resolutions. I came up with two ideas that might work. One; people tend to follow through on tasks if there is a reward, or recognition, at the end. As an example, a person that makes a resolution to quit smoking this year. A pack of cigarettes costs approximately $6.00. For every time the person resists the urge to buy a pack of cigarettes he, or she, will take that $6.00 and put it aside. After a few months they can check the amount of money in the resolution pot. For a pack a day smoker the individual stretches out that pack to two days, half a pack a day instead of a full pack, this amounts to almost $20 saved for the week. In three months that comes to about $250.00 in that pot. Use the money saved to treat yourself to something special. It might be a nice evening out, a new outfit to wear, or reinvest it for a bigger reward later. Maybe a new pair of cowboy boots you have been wanting.
If your resolution does not have a monetary value to it you may have to put a value on it and put that in the pot. For losing weight resolutions put a monetary value on each pound lost and build your reward money. Put at least $5 per pound down. If you are successful in losing weight you can use the money to buy new outfits since the old clothes are now too big anyway.
The second idea came from setting a goal that is important to your self-esteem. I hear from individuals that are planning on attending a 15 year class reunion of their high school in the summer. From what I hear from these individuals it is important to make a nice impression on former classmates. The motivation to lose weight, tone up a bit, and flatten the stomach, is a strong reason to follow through with the resolution. A little personal pride in yourself is a good reason to follow through with the New Year’s resolution.
I did not have any class reunions to attend but I did have a birthday coming up entering into a new decade. I happened to be training for a bodybuilding meet when I approached my 50 years birthday. I took a few snapshots of how I looked at 50 years old. Now, several years later I can post one of those photos on a wall and use it as a motivation to try and get close to a resemblance of my physique back then. I know I won’t come very close to that 50 years old body, but maybe I can I can motivate myself to be able to wear some pants that are now much too tight around the waist. Maybe tone the arms up a bit and put some strength in the legs to make walking up hills easier. By setting the goal for my birthday a few months down the road might be easier than trying to attempt something for an entire year. I was in my 60’s for my last power lift contest. I know I will never reach the strength I had back then, but it will give me encouragement to strive for a little more strength to an older body.
This will be my resolutions for next year. The making a list of specific goals did not work. Maybe trying to set broader and shorter time goals and using past personal levels might be a different method to try for my New Year’s resolutions.
Next year when I write about resolutions again I will let you know how it turned out.
