by Ruth Belena

Created on: December 20, 2008   Last Updated: December 29, 2009

Many New Year resolutions concern health and fitness, or trying to reduce spending. Often these New Year's resolutions don't work because they focus on negative ideas and at the start of the year the weather is bad, the days are short, nights are long and dark. There is little opportunity for being active outdoors, and it is not easy to become motivated.

1 - If you decide you are too fat, not healthy enough, or have too little money, you see only faults and failings.

2 - Early January can also be a time of anxiety and stress, when household bills and credit card accounts need to be paid. This causes some people to smoke, drink or overeat again, within a few weeks.

3 - You need a positive approach to New Year's resolutions to make them work. When you decide to stop smoking, to lose weight and get more exercise, or to become more thrifty, the way to achieve this is not to think about how you will be  depriving yourself of something you enjoy, or forcing yourself to do what you find difficult.

♦ There is a better way to make resolutions, at New Year or at any time of the year:

Rather than thinking it is time to punish yourself for failing to live a healthy lifestyle, you should look ahead, to spring, summer, or the same time next year, when your goal will be achieved.

Think about how much you can realistically achieve in a hundred days, two hundred days or three hundred days, with just a little daily effort, and that will give you the date when you will achieve your goal.

Then you can set a definite target for when you will be a non-smoker, when you will reach your ideal weight or fitness, the time you will be free of debt or have more money saved.

Now you must think how you will feel when the goal is reached. Imagine you have already succeeded. Visualize in you mind how you will look, think about how you will feel, put into words what you will be telling everyone.

Keep thinking positive thoughts and focus on good  feelings. If it helps, you can write down your aims, or find ideal images to focus on. Re-read your resolutions or think about them every day, at least once a day.

You will not reach goal simply by thinking about it, but knowing you can achieve should give you the motivation and boost your determination to succeed. When you feel positive about a goal, you there is a good possibility you will reach it.

You can start to change your attitude and your habits on the first day of January, or on any day of the year. Goals are reached, and success achieved, with forward thinking, planning and making some small changes each day. New year's resolutions can work, but New Year is not necessarily the best time for making a big lifestyle change. New Year's resolutions don't work unless plans for the year ahead are based on what can be achieved, rather than seeing them as difficult problems.

Learn more about this author, Ruth Belena.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.