{"id":81,"date":"2009-12-21T17:28:59","date_gmt":"2009-12-21T22:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/?p=81"},"modified":"2009-12-21T17:28:59","modified_gmt":"2009-12-21T22:28:59","slug":"winter-newsletter-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/2009\/12\/21\/winter-newsletter-2009\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Newsletter, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AND MORE AS A PDF FILE by clicking this link: Winter Newsletter, 2009<\/a><\/p>\n

New Year\u2019s Resolutions:\u00a0How To Make Them So You Can Keep Them<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the past four years, Betty has made a New Year\u2019s Resolution to exercise more. She\u2019s also vowed to lose weight (an annual resolution since 2000), and to finally start that novel (this one goes all the way back to 1995.)<\/p>\n

Like two out of every five Americans, Betty begins every new year with stout resolve and good intentions. But like most who make New Year\u2019s Resolutions, by the time the spring fashions hit the shop windows, all that resolve has gone the way of last year\u2019s colors. No exercise program. No weight loss and, sadly, no novel. Not even a beginning chapter.<\/p>\n

What goes wrong?<\/p>\n

Betty\u2019s problem and the difficulty most people face in keeping their resolutions is that changing behavior involves more than simply vowing to do so. A lot more. So, whether you want to do more or less of something, quit something altogether or start something new, here are a few tips that can help.
\n<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Be sure the change you vow to make is something you really want, not just something you think you should do.\u00a0Altering habits is hard work; if you\u2019re not going after something you really want, you set yourself up for failure.<\/li>\n
  2. Be specific.<\/strong> Instead of vowing to \u201close weight,\u201d state that you want to lose five pounds by March 15. State your goal in incremental, measurable, specific terms. Be certain it\u2019s attainable, too. To go from a sitting position to running a marathon in six weeks may be too long a distance to travel in that short a time.<\/li>\n
  3. Accentuate the positive.<\/strong> When you just say no, you\u2019re reminding yourself of what you can\u2019t have or can\u2019t do. Instead of saying \u201cno fatty foods,\u201d say \u201cnonfat milk and fruit for dessert.\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. Believe in yourself.<\/strong> Positive self-talk, affirmations and encouragement really do help. Even if you fail the first time, that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re doomed to failure. Be easy on yourself if you lapse. Change is often a two-steps-forward, one-step-back process.<\/li>\n
  5. Easy does it.<\/strong> Set your goals in short, manageable steps rather than one giant leap. Start slowly: go to the gym twice a week instead of four times; walk a block instead of a mile.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As for Betty and her novel, at last report, she planned to commit to a page a day, three days a week. At that rate, by the end of the year, she\u2019ll be well on her way to a first draft.<\/p>\n

    If Betty can do it, you can too. What change do you truly long to make in your life this year?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AND MORE AS A PDF FILE by clicking this link: Winter Newsletter, 2009 New Year\u2019s Resolutions:\u00a0How To Make Them So You Can Keep Them For the past four years, Betty has made a New Year\u2019s Resolution to exercise more. She\u2019s also vowed to lose weight (an annual resolution since 2000), and to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81\/revisions\/98"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.drilonatobin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}