Dear Red Hot Mamas- January 2017

By: Red Hot Mamas

Published: January 11, 2017

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other”- Abraham Lincoln

Dear Red Hot Mamas,

Happy 2017!  Many of us have vowed to do a host of things as we begin the new year.

Here are some of the promises many of us have made:

Lose weight and get fit

Eat healthier and diet

Drink less

Get out of debt and save money

Spend more time with our loved ones

Be less stressed

Volunteer more

Learn something new on your own

Travel to new places

Now, let’s look at some statistics about resolutions. In the US, approximately 41% of us make New Year’s resolutions.  42% of Americans never make resolutions.  Of those who do make resolutions, only 9.2% feel they were ever successful in achieving their resolution.  And, 42.4% of people never succeed and fall on their resolutions each year. The source of this information is from Statistic Brain Research Institute.New Years’s resolutions are notoriously difficult to follow.  One culprit for this is that many of us are so ambitious when we begin developing our resolutions, that we set unrealistic goals which causes our resolutions to backfire on us.  This results in our abandoning the resolutions and we are left feeling like failures.

So, I pose this question, are our resolutions merely hollow intentions?

Personally, I’m giving my resolutions a new spin.  I will only make one or two resolutions at a time.  There will not be a list of ten. Rather than viewing them as intimidating resolutions, I will view it as forming new habits. Next year, I will be more realistic when developing my resolution list.  And, I will look into ways of achieving them in a fun, meaningful and practical way which might help make success easier to achieve.  And, lastly, I will give myself some slack.

So, as I’m toasting 2018 in,  I will not be too eager to change everything I don’t like about myself.  I will not over commit myself or become overzealous in setting unrealistic goals.  I will set a resolution or two that is most important to me.  And, I will try to regularly remind myself of the benefits of the resolutions I have made and will work on them daily.

I’d love to hear from you in how you have been successful in keeping your resolutions or what obstacles have hindered your success.

Good luck and Happy New Year!

Karen Giblin