Show Resolve
From the Editor
Self-Improvement Vows for the New Year Almost Always Fail if They’re Too General.
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’ve never really understood the concept of New Year’s Resolutions. They almost always seems self-defeating. The problem with most of us when it comes to successful lifestyle change is procrastination. We just keep putting it off. A New Year’s Resolution is little more than putting it off until later, and hoping the motivation we lack today will show up then. The best day to improve your life is today. In fact, the only day to improve your life is always today. Any other day is procrastination. And that sets you up for almost certain failure because it means you lack the motivation to start and the willpower to continue. You’ve read the statistics. Fifty percent of all Americans make New Year’s Resolutions, but only 8 percent achieve them. We want to be better, and to do better, but we’re not very good at actually doing it. We fail because we make more than one resolution, and we make large, sweeping, abstract resolutions. Behavior modification takes focus. Pick one specific resolution, and tie it to specific behavior that can be easily tracked. Instead of resolving to lose weight, commit to replacing dessert after dinner with a short walk. Instead of resolving to quit smoking, commit to skipping your morning cigarette after breakfast. Instead of resolving to get a new job, commit to creating a resume and getting it to three companies in which you’re interested. Instead of resolving to get in shape, commit to swimming at the local YMCA twice a week. If it’s something you want to do, do it. Start today. Not next week. Not next month and not in the new year. Start today and stick with it at least 30 days. That’s when habits begin to form, and studies show that sticking with a resolution for 30 days will triple your chances of achieving it. You’re looking for long-term sustainable change, and that takes time. Most of us give up too quickly. Don’t worry if the weight isn’t coming off as fast as you like, or if your craving for that morning cigarette isn’t abating. When it comes to building life-changing habits, it’s initially about the effort and not the results. Put in the effort and the results will follow.
Editor-in-Chief Marc Middleton Managing Editor Bill Shafer Associate Editors Katy Widrick, Jackie Carlin Contributing Writers Wendy Chioji, Jill Middleton, Bess Auer, Dr. Susan Mitchell Digital Development and Production Jason Morrow, Pasquale Domenic Narciso IV, Josh Doolittle, Mike Nanus Senior Account Manager Beth Dover
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Group Publisher Randy Noles Art Director Laura Bluhm Senior Associate Publisher Lorna Osborn Associate Publisher Kathy Byrd Growing Bolder is a publication of Florida Home Media LLC, publishers of Orlando Life. 407-647-0225 2700 Westhall Lane, Suite 128 Maitland, FL 32751 orlando-life.com
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Vis Marc Middleton, Editor-in-Chief marcmiddleton@growingbolder.com 6
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