Tips for keeping New Year's resolutions

Provided by Seven Counties Services, Inc., the community mental health center for Jefferson, Bullitt, Shelby, Spencer, Trimble, Henry and Oldham counties.

--try thinking of a New Year's resolution as an investment in you. Think in terms of what you can do to increase your trust in yourself, your self-respect, and your understanding of yourself. The broad goal of resolutions should be to increase your satisfaction with the person you are becoming.

--many people keep resolutions by thinking of them as a start of something-a behavior change-- rather than as goals unto themselves. For example, you may decide to start eating healthier rather than setting a 10-pound loss. If you keep this resolution, a 10-pound loss may be a consequence of your behavior change.

--don't be overly ambitious making resolutions, both in the number of resolutions you make and in your goals. It is better to have kept one resolution than to have made many resolutions, none of which you kept.

--if you do make several resolutions, don't make them all work and no play. One resolution might be to improve your employability with more formal education (work!), while another goal might be to expand your knowledge of a hobby or other personal interest by taking a workshop or class (fun!).

--don't just make the resolution; make the plan for how to keep it. And include how you will handle setbacks or derailments during the year in your plan.

--break down your resolution into manageable and achievable increments. The resolution to save $2,000 next year as a down payment on a house may seem staggering within your budget. Breaking down the resolution into monthly increments (saving $166 a month) or even weekly increments (putting $38.46 a week into your savings account) may not seem so overwhelming and actually will be something easier for you to accomplish.

-if you make a resolution this year that you've been unable to keep in past years, decide on a different way you will try to accomplish the resolution. Replace "old" behavior. For example, if you want to quit smoking but sheer self-discipline hasn't done the trick, speak to your physician about trying a nicotine patch or using nicotine gum.

-some people find success by enlisting allies to help them keep their resolutions. They tell family members, friends and co-workers and enlist their help, maybe asking their spouse to take potato chips off the weekly grocery list; asking a friend to walk with them every night after dinner; or asking a co-worker to remind them when they are biting their fingernails.

--just because it's called a "New Year's resolution" doesn't mean the beginning of the new year is the last or only time you look at the resolution. Write out your resolution and keeping it several places where you will see it regularly-- on your computer, on the refrigerator, in your wallet or in your calendar. Every so often during the year, take a look at what you said you wanted to do, how you were going to do it, and then determine how you are progressing and if your plan needs adjustment.

--celebrate your successes! Celebrate incremental achievements-one week without a cigarette, a month of regular exercise, $200 now in the savings account-as well as the larger ones-you've successfully quit smoking, you've lost 10 pounds, or you've made a down payment on a house-during the year. Celebrating milestones can keep you motivated and on track to keeping this year's New Year's resolutions.