Made a resolution? You’re not alone

Most people ring in the New Year by watching fireworks, drinking excessive amounts of champagne and kissing their loved ones at midnight. But a widely accepted aspect of the New Year is the idea of having a clean slate to make resolutions for the upcoming year.

Little do people know, the tradition of resolutions dates back to the ancient Babylonians, who made promises in order to earn the favor of the gods and start the year off on the right foot. According to the History Channel online, they would vow to pay off debts and return items they had borrowed.

Today, people make resolutions to save money, spend time with their family or learn something new, but many focus on maintaining a healthier lifestyle, whether it be quitting smoking or working out more often, with the hope they can reinvent themselves with the fresh new year.

Larry Danko, owner of Danko’s All American Fitness Center in Plains Township, said that as soon as bad weather comes and the sun starts setting earlier, his gym sees more and more traffic.

“It’s plugged in everybody’s head that it’s time to get that New Year’s resolution going,” Danko said. “So we do see an increase, yes. It definitely gets busier.”

Danko said that in any given month, approximately 30 new members join the club. But in January they often get an additional 100 members, totaling about 130 new members at the beginning of the year.

According to University of Scranton psychology professor John C. Norcross, only eight percent of people who make resolutions are actually successful in following through with them.

Norcross conducted research on New Year’s resolutions and published his findings in the “Journal of Clinical Psychology.”

According to this study, 45 percent of Americans will “usually” make a New Year’s resolution, while 38 percent of Americans never make resolutions.

Rod Kolb of Harveys Lake said he has never felt the need to make a New Year’s resolution.

“I think they are a waste of time,” Kolb said. “Everyone I know who has made them will last for a little while and then gives up.”

Of the Americans who usually make resolutions, about 75 percent of them maintain their goal past the first week of the year. 64 percent of resolutions are maintained through the first month, and only 46 percent of resolutions are held past six months, according to the University of Scranton study.

Shannon Laul of Dallas made her resolution this year to do better in school.

“I think they (resolutions) are good because they give people something to look forward to during the year,” Laul said.

In previous years, Laul said she has been able to stick with her resolutions — such as committing to a gym membership for the entire year — without issue.

On the other side of the spectrum, Amy Gromel of West Pittston said she is more likely to change things in her life if needed as they come up, rather than wait for the New Year to make a resolution.

Some people use New Year’s resolutions as a chance to write out a laundry list of goals for the year or to give themselves massive make overs, but experts say these types of aspirations can lead to immediate failure. Essentially, reaching for the stars can be so psychologically daunting, people end up failing to launch in the first place.

“People want to change. They just need real compelling reasons to start the process. Jan. 1st is perceived as a “new beginning” and serves that purpose,” said Edward Schicatano, Psychology Department Coordinator at Wilkes University.

Schicatano points to people not being clear about their resolutions, goals being too big, losing motivation and thinking of the change as a one time thing as big factors in the failure of resolutions.

Judy Ochs, Director for the Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control in the Pennsylvania Department of Health, said that the Free Quitline averages 3,000 monthly callers, but in February and March of 2014 they surpassed 6,000 callers. Although Ochs attributed many of these calls to the launching of their TIPS campaign at the end of January, she acknowledged some chose to quit because of the new year.

“From the people I see and that I’ve spoken with, everyone looks at the year behind them, then looks forward to what they can do to improve their lives,” Ochs said. “(Resolutions) are usually a little bit too big. People, especially smokers, need to remember that it took practice to learn how to smoke and it takes practice to learn how to quit.”

It has been argued that people make resolutions to motivate themselves to alter bad behavior that they do not necessarily want to change, causing high failure rate.

Others believe that if they change one aspect of their lifestyle, it will give them a completely new and better life, which is not always the case. This also causes people to become discouraged and disappointed, and they often revert back to their old ways.

“There’s nothing wrong with making resolutions, but the message is don’t be hard on yourself. Congratulate yourself for becoming aware of something you want to stop,” Ochs said. “Some people need a trigger, they trigger it by using the idea that it’s a brand new year saying, ‘I’m going to get everything in a row, this is the year that I’m going to do it.’ I think we will continue to see that, I don’t think it’s ever going to stop.”

Succeeding with resolutions involves changing behaviors. And, in order to change a behavior, people have to change their thinking or “rewire” their brains.

According to Norcross, people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions. Goals are more easily attained if they are specific and time-bound, for example rather than choosing to lose weight this year, deciding to lose one pound every week.

“I was never one to say I’m going to do this or this,” Danko said. “I think it’s good for someone to have an idea, but it takes more than a date or a New Year’s resolution to start things. If the individual wants to make this work, it’s a lifestyle change.”

Tom Glee of Avoca used to make resolutions often, but found that he could never stick to them.

“I’m 72 years old, I don’t make them anymore. I broke every one,” Glee said. “Like losing weight, exercising, paying my bills after Christmas, things like that. I just didn’t have the strength to follow up on them. I didn’t stay motivated, like most people, after about six weeks I’d be back into my old habits. It’s a tradition that happens every year; it’s like a dream that doesn’t come true.”

Resolutions depend on motivation and desire to keep up with the change. Although 92 percent of people are unable to stick to resolutions, with growing technologies and phone applications, there are more and more resources for people to utilize in order to achieve their goals.

“While I don’t particularly see the need to wait until January 1st to make a change, change can be made any day of the year. Nonetheless, I do support the intention to start anew and create a positive change in one’s life,” said Schicatano.

“Don’t make it a decision,” he said. “Look at your goal and say, ‘I have to do this. I’m doing it.’ Don’t ask the question, ‘Should I do this today or not? Should I take the day off?’ Make the behavior automatic. Don’t think twice about it. Just do it. It’s easy to talk ourselves out of things.”

 

cjacobson@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2061

 

Tips to maintaining your New Year’s resolution:

n Focus on one resolution, rather than several and set realistic, specific goals. Losing weight is not a specific goal. Losing 10 pounds in 90 days would be.

n Don’t wait till New Year’s Eve to make resolutions. Make it a year long process, every day.

n Take small steps. Many people quit because the goal is too big requiring too much effort and action all at once.

n Have an accountability buddy, someone close to you to whom you have to report.

n Celebrate your success between milestones. Don’t wait until the goal is finally completed.

n Focus your thinking on new behaviors and thought patterns. You have to create new neural pathways in your brain to change habits.

n Focus on the present. What’s the one thing you can do today, right now, towards your goal?

n Be mindful. Become physically, emotionally and mentally aware of your inner state as each external event happens, moment-by-moment, rather than living in the past or future.

Source: Psychology Today

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