Forget New Years Resolutions -- They Dont Work

You can forget about making New Year's Resolutions if you're hoping for a successful outcome. Most aren't worth the paper they're written on.

No less than Mark Twain has written of New Year's Resolutions, "Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink, and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever."

The biggest majority of New Year's Resolutions have gone by the wayside before January is over and most won't even be remembered six months later. And the reason is pretty simple: Most are made in response to something negative -- a habit or situation that the person wants to change or end. And therein lies the problem ? it's hard to develop momentum from a negative response. It is always easier to move toward something rather than away from something.

Consider one of the most adopted resolutions --- weight loss. No one can get excited about losing weight because it requires deprivation. It's a negative response to concerns about appearance, health, etc. The results of weight loss Resolutions demonstrate their weakness. A 1998 survey sponsored by Gardenburger found that more than three-fourths of all women between the ages of 25 and 54 make diet and weight-loss plans each year. Nearly nine of 10 respondents reported only occasional or no success, while almost half lost little or actually gained weight instead.

The people who succeed at losing weight and maintaining the loss have usually been motivated by a dream much bigger and more positive than just losing weight. They see themselves living a healthy lifestyle. They begin to act and think like people who are in good physical shape. There's more of a radical change in a person's thinking and actions than you see with most resolutions. It wouldn't be possible to effect and sustain such a radical change unless the person is motivated by a big dream that is positive in nature.

Another popular aim is to quit smoking. And I can certainly relate to that -- I was a three-pack-a-day smoker until I celebrated a smoke-free New Year's twelve years ago. For over twenty years I had tried to quit many times using every tool and technique I heard about. But as long as I was trying to quit, I couldn't break the grip.

Instead, I developed a dream to become a non-smoker. I fell in love with the idea of breathing clean air instead of smoky air, of my body and clothes smelling nice instead of smoky. I thought about how wonderful it would be to taste food again. I decided to start acting and thinking like a non-smoker, and when the thinking took hold I simply quit smoking. In all the years since, I've never wanted another cigarette, never even thought about wanting one.

If you're going to make a New Year's Resolution this year, make one with a high probability for success. Make a Resolution to develop a life plan. Most people are in a free-fall through life, careening from one crisis to the next. They wake up one day and 10, 20, 30 or more years have passed and they're nowhere near where they thought or hoped they'd be. Working with a life plan you're much more apt to be excited by what the future brings even if you succeed at attaining only a small part of your plan.

A life plan should address all areas of your life including finances, health, relationships, career, spiritual and even recreational. While a lot of our focus tends to be on financial issues like increasing income or decreasing debt, or health issues like losing weight or quitting smoking, the undeniable truth is that a life lived out of balance isn't a life of quality at all.

If you were going to build a new house and you had this idea for a fabulous master bedroom suite, you wouldn't rush out and start building the master bedroom. You'd have a complete plan before you started. When you approach resolutions and goals in the same manner, you end up with a much better chance of achieving success.

Copyright © 2004 Vic Johnson

Vic Johnson is a popular motivational speaker, author and Internet Infopreneur who has created some of the most visited personal development sites on the Web, including the goal setting portal, http://www.Goals2005.com that features goal setting programs and software as well as weight loss, smoking cessation and debt reduction solutions.

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Google News Updated : Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:08:20 GMT US MBA's Mortgage Applications Index Increased 7.5% Last Week - Bloomberg 100 Mortgages US MBA's Mortgage Applications Index Increased 7.5% Last Week Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By Shobhana Chandra July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Mortgage applications in the US rose for a second straight week, a sign that falling home prices are attracting some buyers. Mortgage applications up 7.5% last week: MBA MarketWatch US mortgage applications increased last week-MBA Reuters CNN - Forbes - RTT News - 100 Mortgages all 15 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:38:08 GMT G-8 Conference Tackles Global Warming Treaty - Washington Post BBC News G-8 Conference Tackles Global Warming Treaty Washington Post - 1 hour ago By Michael Abramowitz RUSUTSU, Japan, July 9-- The leaders of the countries most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions pledged Wednesday a shared effort to combat global warming, but developing countries like China and India continued to balk at the ... Bush: 'Significant progress' on climate change The Associated Press Emerging Nations Join G-8 on Climate New York Times Aljazeera.net - CNN International - Bloomberg - Telegraph.co.uk all 2,035 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:20:59 GMT Polygamist sect leader swaps jail for hospital - MSNBC KVAL Polygamist sect leader swaps jail for hospital MSNBC - 2 hours ago Warren Jeffs, the head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has been hospitalized. Douglas C. Pizac / Pool via Getty Images FILE July 2: Michael Sean Winters, author of "Left at the Altar," joins the "Morning Joe" crew to ... Jeffs was taken to the Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las ... CNN Warren Jeffs Remains In Local Hospital KXNT Salt Lake Tribune - The Associated Press - Deseret News - Las Vegas Review - Journal all 309 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:48:40 GMT Coalition to lobby for US health-care reform - Reuters KULR-TV Coalition to lobby for US health-care reform Reuters - 17 hours ago WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - A coalition of unions, think tanks and other groups launched an advertising campaign on Tuesday saying they want to ensure that health-care reform tops the US political agenda after the November elections. Coalition begins universal health care campaign Great Falls Tribune Coalition launches push for health care reform Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Rapid City Journal - Tampa Tribune - Beyond Chron - Washington Post all 291 news articles Publ.Date : Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:09:32 GMT Google adds third dimension to online social relationships - NetworkWorld.com Siliconrepublic.com Google adds third dimension to online social relationships NetworkWorld.com - 2 hours ago By Mikael Ricknäs , IDG News Service , 07/09/2008 Google has entered yet another space with the launch of Lively, a tool for creating 3D social spaces on Web sites, which is now available in a public beta test. Virtual world tipping point: Is there an enterprise use? ZDNet Google Introduces a Cartoonlike Method for Talking in Chat Rooms New York Times Reuters - The Tech Herald - eFluxMedia - Wall Street Journal all 263 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:04:08 GMT Iraq Wants Withdrawal Timetable In US Pact - Washington Post ABC News Iraq Wants Withdrawal Timetable In US Pact Washington Post - 8 hours ago By Ernesto Londoño and Dan Eggen BAGHDAD, July 8 -- Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday that his government would not sign an agreement governing the future role of US troops in Iraq unless it includes a timetable for their withdrawal. Maliki's Withdrawal Card Wall Street Journal Iraqi Officials Still Insisting on Timetable to Withdraw New York Times istockAnalyst.com - AFP - CNN - Xinhua all 1,578 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:41:08 GMT German shares up midday as financials rebound - Forbes ABC News German shares up midday as financials rebound Forbes - 1 hour ago FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German shares were higher midday, led by financials, which rebounded from Tuesday's strong losses, and helped by soothing words from US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and easing oil prices. Fed ready to aid investment banks BBC News Fed Sees Turmoil Persisting Deep Into Next Year New York Times International Herald Tribune - Reuters - Financial Times - CNNMoney.com all 1,484 news articles Publ.Date : Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:46:08 GMT Make Data Feed Websites Amazon Content

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