Tags: 92% | of | New | Year’s | Resolutions | Fail | making

Study: 92% of New Year’s Resolutions Fail

Monday, 31 December 2012 04:29 PM EST


If you’re hoping to make a change this New Year’s, the chances that you’ll stick with it are slim.
While 45 percent of Americans make resolutions only 8 percent say they are successful at achieving them, according to a survey recently published in the University of Scranton’s Journal of Clinical Psychology. Forty-nine percent report having “infrequent success,” while 24 percent say they fail every year.
What is the resolution most people make? For 2012 it was losing weight, followed by getting organized, spending less money and saving more, enjoying life to the fullest, and staying fit and healthy. Rounding out the top 10 were: learning something exciting, quitting smoking, helping someone achieve their dreams, falling in love, and spending more time with family.
If you’re younger, chances are better that you’ll stick with your resolution. The survey found that 39 percent of people in their 20s report achieving their goal each year, compared to only 14 percent of people over 50.
Here’s a hint for what works when it comes to making change: People who are explicit about their goal are 10 times more likely to achieve it than people who are not, the survey found.
That doesn’t surprise Mary Dainty, a mental health clinician at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The clients she sees who have the most success at making long-lasting change not only discuss their intentions but also make a concrete plan to achieve them.
For example, declaring your goal to lose weight by eating healthier foods is important, but mapping out plans for doing it is critical. That means figuring out which stores offering good choices you’ll shop at, how to handle your family who might not support your plan, and what you’ll do when you’re running late and fast-food beckons, she says.
“So it becomes a lot of work that people don’t anticipate because they haven’t laid out what it is going to involve,” she explains. “It’s very easy to get side-railed. Being concrete with the planning is probably the number one thing you can do.”
Dainty offers other tips for improving your chances of successfully making changes:
Grab an accountability partner. This is a person to whom you’ve given permission to gently remind — not nag — you when you may be on the verge of breaking your commitment to change. This person would have a role similar to that of a sponsor in a 12-step group. If you’re veering away from a healthy eating plan the person might say: “How are you going to feel as you’re eating that or how are you going to feel after?” Dainty explains.
Take small steps. Breaking down your goal into more manageable pieces can make it seem less daunting and more attainable, she says. For example, instead of planning to lose 50 pounds in six months, shoot for losing several pounds over 30 days then redefining your goal.
“It allows you to reinforce the good things that have happened, rather than saying, ‘Great, I only have five months to lose 50 pounds,’” Dainty says.
“When you look at a long stretch like that it can make it almost impossible to achieve, especially if you have had a bad month.”
Anticipate peaks and valleys. If things go wrong, don’t be too hard on yourself, she advises. At the same time, don’t be tempted to reward success because things seem easier than you anticipated. If you’re having trouble sticking to your plan, consult your accountability partner.
Get professional help. If you suspect your struggle for change — whether related to eating or spending habits, use of drugs and alcohol, or something else — is tied to a larger emotional issue that you haven’t explored, talk to a professional counselor, Dainty urges. If you can’t change a behavior on your own that is self-destructive, hurting the people around you, or both, professional help is critical, she says.
“Friends aren’t an option,” she says. “They are not unbiased enough.”





© HealthDay


Headline
Most of us are not successful at keeping New Year’s resolutions, a survey finds, and that may be because we don’t fully appreciate what making long-lasting changes requires.
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2012-29-31
Monday, 31 December 2012 04:29 PM
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