5 New Year’s Resolutions You Probably Shouldn’t Make and 1 You Should

It’s that time of the year again when we must say goodbye to the old year and ready ourselves for the new. Come New Year’s Eve most of us make resolutions that last about as long as a fist full of chocolate in the hot and sweaty hands of a child. Truthfully, we should call them New Year’s Wishes because a wish doesn’t require any action but a resolution does.

In my 58 years of life there has only been one time (last year) when I actually made up my mind that I was going to make a change in my life and stuck to it. I’ll share what the change was and what happened as a result of it with you at the end of this post.

But first, for those of you who insist on making resolutions here are 5 you can cross off your list, not because they are bad but because studies have proven time and time again that only a small percentage of us manage to do these things for more than a month or two (less than 50% manage to stick to it for more than 6 months) And statistics also show that people in my age group (50+) are even less likely to achieve success when it comes to keeping their resolutions. Only 14% of us will attain our goals. So why do we waste time making resolutions we don’t keep?

Here are the most popular resolutions that we make to break. 

1. I will lose ___ pounds by ___.   You probably guessed that this was the number one resolution and it’s also the number one epic fail by most folks. We stuff ourselves at Thanksgiving and Christmas and while we are feeling fat and sassy we decide that the New Year would be a great time to shed those unwanted pounds. Sound familiar?  Losing weight and keeping it off is not a one or two months commitment, it’s a life time commitment. If we aren’t willing to change our eating habits and exercise for more than a month or two, there’s no point in wasting our money on a gym membership.

2. I will stop (insert vice here) ____.  Smoking. Drinking. Recreational drugs. Whatever it is that you do that you know is ruining (or will ruin) your health. Everyone SHOULD stop doing these things because you are gambling with your life and while quitting cold turkey may work for some, but most of us need help. The important thing to remember is that there is help available. Tobacco users can choose from a range of products to help them. Hypnosis. Nicotine patches. Nicotine gum. If you are drinking too much or abusing drugs there are organizations where you can find support and help. Wanting to quit is one thing. Doing it requires a whole different level of commitment. There is no doubt that every problem has a solution but expecting it to happen without a plan or support of others isn’t the smartest way to achieve your goals.

3. I will eat healthier. I was raised in the south on southern foods. Fried chicken. Country ham. Biscuits and gravy. And then there were the desserts. My mom and grandmother cooked like Paula Deen on steriods. White chocolate cake. Strawberry cake. Carrot cake-that one has something healthy in it so maybe that one doesn’t count. Pies. Cobblers. The list goes on and on. When you grow up eating foods like the ones I did, everything else seems like rabbit food.

I know what foods are good for me and which ones aren’t but how do I keep from being drawn to those unhealthy choices? It isn’t easy and most of us cave in occasionally and eat things we know we shouldn’t, myself included. I try to make better choices about food but when confronted with the choice between carrot sticks and french fries, I’ll go for the fries every time. Perhaps a better, more practical resolution would be I will eat healthier 90% of the time as opposed to 100%.

Again, this is a great goal but a hard one to follow for 365 days of the year.

4. I will learn to ____.  Speak Spanish. Fly a plane. Whatever. No matter how much you want to do these things if you aren’t willing to spend the time it takes to learn to do whatever it is you want to do, it won’t happen. Nothing wrong with the goal but getting there is a commitment (there’s that word again) of time and resources.

5. Spend more time ____.  For me it was spend more time with my cousin Martha and my other gal pals. For years we were so busy with our kids and our jobs that there was never enough time for each other. We tend to assume that there will always be time in the future to visit with loved ones, and yet we know that’s not guaranteed. Saying we want to spend more time with a loved one, at the lake, traveling, etc. is a great goal, but doing it is another. We can only put so many eggs in our basket (according to my grandmother). If you want to spend more time doing something then you are probably going to have to spend less time at something else.

So there you have it, 5 resolutions you shouldn’t make but probably will anyway. Why? Because we have good intentions but not willpower. Don’t believe me? Check out this article on Statisticbrain.com to see what are the most common resolutions and how often people who make them fail to keep them.

While doing research for this article I ran across a quote that illustrated what I mean about making resolutions.

“My wife challenged me to make new year resolutions I can keep…So I’m determined and committed to becoming fatter, lazier and older this year,” he said.

At least this guy was truthful!

The 1 Resolution You Should Make–Following Your Dream

Before I go I want to tell you about the one resolution I made and did keep. Last year I made the commitment to go to my first ever blogger’s conference and to invest more time and resources to improving NanaHood.com  I bought my ticket last New Year’s Eve (I wanted to make it a tax deduction for 2013) to a conference and immediately started making connections with others who were going. I read about the conference, joined a Facebook page where they posted updates about the conference and as time went by my enthusiasm about going increased.

In short, I made something I wanted to do a priority and then made a financial commitment to do it. For me putting my money where my mouth is made the difference. Once I knew I had paid for the conference then I knew I wasn’t going to back out. 

It was one of the best decisions (resolutions) I have ever made. Within one month I had earned the cost of the conference back because of connections I made there. I also came back convinced that there was a need for a conference centered around women my age. This next March that dream is going to come true, largely because of connections I made with some awesome bloggers, who like me believe that Midlife Women rock! If you have an interest in writing/blogging I strongly encourage you to make the commitment to go to BAM in March, 2015. The article I mentioned earlier details many of the benefits of attending these conferences.

So What Is Your Dream?

Whatever it is that you have dreamed of doing but have never gotten around to you can make it happen.

1. Research how to do it. 2. Find out the cost and resources required and then make the financial commitment. 3. Make a verbal commitment to those who know and love you. Tell them about your dream and your plan to make it happen. If they are true friends they will encourage you and help you stay the course.

Instead of making a whole bunch of resolutions you won’t keep this year, why not make a financial and verbal commitment to a dream?

Make 2015 the year you make your dream come true!