This time of year feels like the Real New Year to me. The season is starting to change: some trees are losing their leaves, the nights are cooler, and amusement parks are closing. Vacations are ending. Kids of all ages are going back to school. There is the excitement of anticipation: “What will my grade one teacher be like?” wonders the child. “What will high school be like?” wonders the teenager. “What will Psychology 101 be like?” wonders the university student (answer: Fun!). People are buying new clothes, booking activities, and planning for the coming fall and winter.Going from an old to a new year in the middle of winter just doesn’t make any sense in comparison.
So, all of this gets me to thinking: What about resolutions? After all, people make resolutions for the calendar new year. I wonder if people make resolutions at the end of summer? Maybe people stick to their Real New Year’s resolutions better than they stick to their January 1st resolutions. Research shows they couldn’t do much worse.
Every year in late December, just when I am winding down after long days and weeks of lecturing, meeting, writing, and meeting (and meeting), print and radio reporters interview me about New Year’s resolutions. They want to know why most resolutions fail and how people can do better at keeping their resolutions.
Every year my poor tired self says the same things again and again. New Year’s resolutions fail because people try to change way too much about themselves way too quickly. Changing yourself is tough work. If it were easy to do, we’d all be perfect and nobody would be reading this blog. In fact, I wouldn’t be writing it!
So, now, in my own way and when I am still fresh, here are my two rules for making New Year’s resolutions. Please, please keep them in mind when making a resolution, whether it is for the Real New Year or that “common” one:
1. Make ONE resolution. It’s hard enough to stick to one.
2. Be reasonable. My research shows that people’s goals are way too ambitious. Let’s say that you want to start running. You haven’t gone for a run for over a year. So why on Earth would you resolve to run five miles a day? Overly ambitious goals like that can only lead to failure. Failure is discouraging, to say the least. Maybe a regular walk at first? Ever heard of interval training?
I will have more to say about how to change yourself in future posts but, in the meanwhile, keep the two rules in mind for your resolutions, whenever you make them.
Now I have to take a call from a reporter. I wonder what she wants to talk about …
