As a concept, New Year resolutions are a great way to become aware of what area needs to be worked on in your life. They are a step towards defining what your life goals are.

However, If you are not careful, your New Year’s resolutions can quickly turn into a list of failures, a list of what is wrong or missing in your life, perhaps enough to get depressed about which can dampen the fresh start the New Year can bring. What can be worse is to quickly find yourself failing and just repeating the same resolutions next year.

The number of people who were jogging in Hyde Park on the first of January was intriguing. It made me wonder whether any had resolved to start jogging in 2004 and to consider how many of them will keep up their resolution and for how long!

No matter what is on your list, whether you plan to lose weight, stop being bad-tempered to your children, stop lying to people, stop reacting to your mother's dramas, cycle to work, or stop smoking, the important question remains: how do we get New Year’s resolutions to work?

Steps for success:

·          Change the title

Call it a list of Life Improvements, because that is what you are trying to achieve.

The term ‘New Year Resolutions’ may have negative connotations by putting pressure on yourself, and implying failure if you slip and do not accomplish them in a year. Life Changes are still an achievement whenever you finish them. 

·          Be realistic

Choose only two or three resolutions, from that list. Habits that took many years to build are unlikely to change in few days or months. You are more likely to focus your energy and achieve success on few rather than many changes.

·          Find your trigger

Any new behaviour can be easier to establish, if you define your reward for achieving that change- your inner motivation. Keep that in sight, and dangle it in front of you at every opportunity.

·          Be ‘hopefully devoted’

You harvest what you plant, if you look after your young seeds/plants and nurture them. This is the way of nature.

The important thing is to commit yourself to change on a daily basis.  Small steps will take you a long way. I think it is a Chinese saying that a journey of a hundred miles starts with one small step.

If you slip one day, do not fall prey to being a victim of failure. Rather have hope that tomorrow is a new day which creates new opportunities for you.  Running out of time, is not running out of life! 

·         Finally, don’t wait for the next New Year to make a fresh start. Once your (two or?) three goals are achieved, work on the next three. And so on.

You can commit to life changes at any time.

© Psychic Sahar 2003, PS Magazine- London,
                    photograph © Tiscali www.tiscali.co.uk