Welcome 2012! A new year means a new plan

After celebrating the holidays with family, friends and sweet indulgences, there's no better time to face those resolutions that many of us make when the new year rings in.  I did a quick Google search of the top 5 resolutions for 2012, and getting active and eating well seem to pop up pretty much everywhere.  Are resolutions really the best approach to making changes in our lives?  According to a 2007 survey of over 3000 people, 88% of all resolutions end in failure.  Why? Well, one theory suggests that perhaps we try to change too many things in our lives at the same time.  The fact is that habits are hard to break, and they are even harder to break if we tackle too many of them at once.  If you're thinking of making some changes this year, here is a new approach to help you make the most of your goals for 2012 and most importantly, stick with them:

1) Call your new year's resolution your "goal" and make it specific.  If your goal is to eat well this year, be specific about what that means to you.  For example, if you are currently buying your lunch at the food court or restaurant on a daily basis, your goal might be: I will limit the number of times I eat at the food court or restaurant to once weekly.

2) Have an action plan for your goal.  If you are planning on bringing lunch with you more often you need to have a plan to make this happen. Example:

My action plan :

• Create a weekly meal plan
• Make my lunch in the evening so that it's ready to go the next day
• Keep fresh fruit and vegetables in the fridge to bring with me for snacks 

3) Ask yourself, on a scale of 1 to 10, how confident you are that your goal and action plan are achievable for you.  Studies show that if your answer is 7 or lower, you may need to revisit your action plan, and make a few changes until your confidence is 8 or higher.

4) If you fall off your action plan, don't see it as a failure.  Be kind to yourself and know that it's okay to have a few slips, and that it's never too late to get back on your plan.

5) Work on one goal at a time.  Creating new habits takes time.  Trying to do too many things at once can really set us up for failure.  When you work on one thing at a time, there's more focus and energy going into that one thing!

Cheers and happy new year!