Successful New Year’s Resolutions and health resolutions....

Today's Post: Friday, 12-30-2011

To have a successful New Year’s resolution or health resolution, you have to make one.

Many people don’t bother to make any. Almost all of them fail. (Some of those who are taking action separately to make good things happen will succeed anyway.)

Many people think up a couple and stop there. Almost all of them fail.

A few people write down a resolution or two. Some of them succeed.

But why not join the group that succeeds or at least makes worthwhile progress on achieving their resolutions almost every time?

Make these several changes.

Write them all down. (This year, I found a place I can review them a few times each month.)

Write them down as goals to achieve in the coming year instead of as a resolution.

Have only one or two that are a real challenge to reach.

Include at least one or two related goals that you know you can get done. (That way, you can review each of them all throughout the year and see some progress at least on those goals.)

Then right away, write down a few things to do to work on getting them achieved. Begin doing those things in January.

This can be well worth doing!

John Carlton writes of doing three things, writing his goals for the year as of a year later and as if they were achieved. He had a potentially effective way to reach his goals. And the goals he set were quite modest.

( See http://www.john-carlton.com/ The Rest Of Your Freakin’ Life, Re-Redux Tuesday, 1:31pm Reno, NV )

It worked. And, repeating the process allowed him to succeed in reaching MUCH larger goals later.

Health writer Dr Al Sears in his email today endorses the idea of scheduling just one or two doable things to do in January to move him closer to reaching his goals.

He thinks he will even make progress with this method on a couple of goals he hasn’t been able to reach in prior years.

Write down your goals for the year. Write them down as if it’s next January and you are reporting you got them.

Have at least some of them clearly doable or very likely doable.

Pick one or two things you clearly can do to begin the process of reaching each one that you schedule to do in January.

I’ll use myself as an example.

Despite my healthy lifestyle and weight lost on the scale, my waist is still too fat and large. And my blood pressure, while not at the level drugs are needed to treat IS a bit too high for best health results.

For the fat loss goal, I’ve already begun making progress on building more muscle in my legs. And, later today I’ll buy a logbook to help me succeed in eating a bit more nonstarchy vegetables and less of other things for my after dinner snacks. And, I’ve listed about six more things to add after that.

Losing more belly fat will drop my blood pressure a few points too.

Earlier this week I bought my first video Tai Chi lessons and last night I began learning from them.

(Since doing Tai Chi calms you and your overactive response to stress – which I’ve had -- the research says I’ll drop my blood pressure by itself to where I’d like it to be. One research study found people who began doing Tai Chi regularly dropped 17 over 11 points from their high blood pressure.)

Second, there is a supplement that is taken from a mild herbal tea, Hibiscus, that tested as dropping high blood pressure about 13 over 8. (I tried the tea and simply didn’t care for it; but I can take the supplement to get the effect of regularly drinking a few cups each day of the tea.)

I ordered today that supplement today and will begin taking it when it arrives in two weeks at my local health food store.

My blood pressure when I’m relaxed is 135 over 80. But it can easily be 159 over 93 when I’m stressed. I want to look back next January when it measures 119 over 71 when I’m relaxed and 139 over 83 when I’m stressed! I also am working to have less stress in my life. But that’s not always within my control.

I’d planned to add some easy to do but profoundly effective health goals you might want to consider to this post but find I’m out of time.

So I may do that next week.

Have a happy and prosperous and healthy New Year!

And, stay safe on New Year’s Eve so you are around to enjoy it!