Resolution Solutions 2012

Happy New Year 2012.

It’s that time of year again and if you’re like many of us, you’re all making the same resolutions, again. Stop drinking or smoking, go to the gym, lose weight. Some of the other popular resolutions that get recycled every year include spending more time with family and friends, participating in your community, getting organized, starting a new hobby or learning a new skill and getting out of debt. These are all good goals and the reason we see them year after year is that they are never really “done.” You can’t complete “spend more time with family and friends” or “getting organized.”

Here are some tips to help you keep and succeed in your resolutions this year:

1. Consider choosing a guiding word rather than a resolution.
Mentor Christine Kane suggests this as an option for providing more of a framework for the year rather than goals that may or may not resonate. See this page for a free guide to discovering your word for 2012.

2. List your priorities.
We’re all busy with loads to do - work, school, parents, children, pets, hobbies, homes - it can be very overwhelming. While many of these are on a equal footing, they can’t all get equal attention.
What are the items you can let slide this year? What are the items you might have been letting slide that you really want to focus on? This can be enough to refocus you or can be the basis on which you set resolutions for 2012.

3. Keep your goals SMART: Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely.
[you don’t have to keep this part as strict text - feel free to format in a more readable manner]

Specific - if your goal is to spend more time with family, how much more time - if you live locally, you might set the goal to have dinner with your family once a week. If your goal is to lose weight, set a goal for a certain number of pounds.
Measurable - this doesn’t have to include scales and measuring tapes (but they help!), but has more to do with how you determine if you’ve reached your goal. If the goal is to get organized, maybe your measure if the size of the pile of loose papers “to be filed” on your desk.
Attainable - this will vary for each person, but SMART goals are both challenging and within reach. Being attainable also requires that you have the time, energy and attention to give to achieving your goal.
Realistic - your goal should also be something that can really happen. Flying to the Atlantis on the back of a winged pig is not a realistic goal for 2012.
Timely - “Goals are dreams with deadlines” (Diana Scharf Hunt) New Years resolutions are always somewhat timely, because you make new ones every year, but if 365 days is too long, bring your window in somewhat or even break your goal into parts with shorter deadlines. This will help keep you on track and also give you some milestones to celebrate along the way.

4. Keep your word, priorities or goals visible. Tape it to your mirror, post it on your dashboard in the car, write in on paper and use it as a bookmark, make it your theme or wallpaper on your computer or smart phone. Remind yourself frequently of your desired outcome to keep motivated through the year.

5. Enlist help.
You are the only one who can accomplish your goals, but you don’t have to do it alone. Share your resolution with friends and family and ask them to gently remind and support you. Enlist professionals who have experience and resources in the area of your focus. If your goals are health related, including weight loss and smoking cessation, the physicians at True Health Medicine can help with dietary advise, appropriate supplementation or herbal medicines, specialized diets and acupuncture.

If you’re still stumped, I suggest this resolution: try acupuncture in 2012!

Welcome 2010

Happy new year, friends, and welcome, 2010. There are so many ways of making a fresh start and the new year is one of the finest. At new year, we often make resolutions:

• stop smoking
• lose weight
• eat healthier

These are great resolutions to have, but it can be challenging to know where to start sometimes. I would like to suggest a couple of options to help make your new year's resolutions a healthy reality.

1. Simply your resolutions. If your resolutions include all of the above plus 10 other items, it may be hard to focus and achieve all of your goals. What are the most important goals to you?

Sometimes picking fewer items from your list can allow you to really focus on that goal and make it happen. On the other hand, some goals go hand in hand, like eating healthier and losing weight. While these are separate items, these would be reasonable goals to work on concurrently. If all 10-13 items seem essential, are you ready for a drastic life change? How can you best support that change?

2. Turn your resolutions into SMART goals. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. For example, losing weight is an ideal without measurable or specific outcome and losing 100 pounds in 1 month may not be realistic or attainable. How about setting a goal to lose 10% of your body weight in X timeframe at about 1-2 lbs per week. This is a healthy, sustainable, attainable amount of weight loss and correlates with an improvement in health outcomes. Any resolution can be turned into a SMART goal with a little creative thinking.

3. Consider identifying a guiding word for 2010. No resolutions? Don't want to set the same goals for 2010 that you've done every year? Try choosing a word for 2010. This technique is gaining popularity in diverse circles and is creating awareness and positive outcomes for many. Blogger Christine Kane writes about this technique and has provided a free tool to help you identify a word for 2010 and start learning about yourself.

Whatever resolutions, goals or words you chose for yourself, I wish you a healthy and happy new year.