Experts: Resolutions need to be realistic
MAIN STREET — For Rachel Leahy, today is an important day. The 16-year-old has decided that in 2007 she is going to commit herself to her studies and improve her grades so that she can gain admittance to a quality college.
“I really just want to focus on studying more and really make school a priority,” she said last week, while sipping coffee with a friend. “I would just love to get better grades.”
Leahy isn’t alone. Making New Year’s resolutions is a common practice as people relish the chance to start fresh. Most turn to their health, promising themselves that they will lose that extra weight gained during the holidays. Others point to family and commit themselves to spending more time with the ones they love.
About 27 percent of Americans will pin their resolutions on health and fitness, followed by personal growth and interests, personal finance, career, education and training, home improvement/real estate, time management and organization, family and relationships, and finally, recreation and leisure, according to a survey by myGoals.com, which releases annual figures on what types of resolutions people are expected to make in the new year.
“I’m staying off blondes,” said Ramon Morales, a 21-year-old who doesn’t normally make New Year’s resolutions, but ran into trouble in 2006 and is looking to learn from his mistakes.
“Blondes... they’re nothing but trouble.” No one really knows for sure when New Year’s resolutions became in vogue, however, it is easy to see why so many people feel the need to change their lives for the better at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1.
“I’m staying off blondes. Blondes... They’re nothing but trouble.”
“The goals are so attractive,” said professor Jerry Jellison, a professor at USC who wrote the book “Managing the Dynamics of Change.”
Who wouldn’t like to lose weight, spend more time with the kids or get organized? asked Jellison.
“The goals also seem so easy at the time,” Jellison added. “But the real challenge is following through. How do you turn your desires, wants, aspirations into sustained action?”
Those who make New Year’s resolutions often fail to follow through. People get overwhelmed by the lofty goals they set for themselves, lose interest or fall into old patterns out of habit or ease. Then there are those who party so hard on New Year’s Eve that they can’t remember what goal they’ve set for themselves.
“I usually don’t remember what my resolution is, so I tend to just say, ‘the hell with it,’” said Tiffany Collins. “I don’t really know anyone who makes resolutions anymore. I think people are kind of over the whole thing. I’d much rather work on myself the whole year-round, be constantly improving instead of just waiting for the end of the year to make a difference.
“But that’s easier said than done.” The key to realizing one’s dreams for a better life is to focus on realistic goals with measurable results, suggests Jellison. Break down the goals into small steps that can be managed month to month.
“Instead of saying, ‘I’m going to lose 50 pounds,’ try five pounds in the first month and give yourself some reward for reaching that goal,” said Jellison. “Once you see the positive results, chances are you will naturally continue the activities that you are doing and it will all become second-nature.
“You will change your lifestyle without really obsessing about it.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 1, 2007. Read the original PDF.