Jan 29 2009
New Years Resolutions
Well it is that time again. New Years Resolutions. We all make them and according to some research we all break them too. I think I recently read that almost half the population make resolutions ever year but less that 20% actually keep them.
This got me wondering. Are we just failing? Or are we setting ourselves up to fail? Or could it be a self fulfilling prophecy? I’ll use myself as an example. I’m not a small woman - I’m not morbidly obese but I’m chubby and have always been so. Year after year I make the resolution to loose weight. I know I am not alone in this because annually the commercials and incentives for weight loss programs seem to increase during the month of January. However, I’ve never managed to keep my resolution. So back to the questions.
Are we just failing? Statistically - I’m not a failure. I’ve finished college, and about to finish my doctorate. I’ve bought my home before 30. So I don’t think that is MY problem.
Are we setting ourselves up to fail? This may be part of my problem. I always want to loose like 80 lbs. For those in the world who AREN’T chubby that is a lot of weight and when you get to needing to loose those numbers the weight comes off slowly and it is easy to get discouraged. So I’ll say - Yes I set myself up in a way because I know this is going to take longer than I really want it too. I wish resolutions were like genie wishes - (POOF!! ) and it’s done.
The last question is - could it be a self fulfilling prophecy? Well I think this goes hand and hand with setting ourselves up. We pick the new year to make a resolution for a life change in some way. In actuality, we could make that life change decision at ANY time during the year. But we choose the new year - so the question is are we subconsciously making this resolution at a time when we know we aren’t REALLY expected to keep it??
Ok so those are my deep thoughts on Resolutions. Of course the question is begged - did I make one this year. And I did - I actually made two. One - finish doctorate!! And the second is to loose 80lbs. But with the weight loss, I’m trying something new. I am only aiming to loose about 10 lbs during one month and I’ll start the count over with each new month. That way if I only loose 4 lbs that isn’t soo bad out of 10 as opposed to 4 lbs out of 80. To date - I’ve lost 7.6 lbs since Jan. 10th. So I’m making good time.
Now I’m going to work on that other resolution - and do doctoral work!!
Later!
