Succeed with real solutions instead of resolutions

We’re barely into the January and all of my well intentioned friends have mulled over their resolutions for the New Year. Some have even been brave enough to post their lists for the entire social network sphere to see in hopes that it will hold them accountable. Truth be told though I heard several of my friends have dropped the ball on resolutions within hours, days or weeks of the ball dropping.

Personally I’m not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions. The phrase alone reminds me of repetitively trying to reconcile a failure while reusing a previous solution and expecting a different outcome. Yeah, that’s the definition of crazy. Just because the calendar turns a new page it doesn’t mean life in turn will follow. Nor will it offer everyone a fresh start on old habits and hang ups from one day to the next simply for the fact that the last digit in the date is different.

If you’re trying to quit smoking then your cravings don’t know if it’s December 27th or January 16th. The reason you’re eating late at night to the point you feel sick won’t go away because you took the Christmas decorations down. Making a permanent change means you need to stop relying on resolutions and look towards real solutions.

Schedule an appointment with your doctor to talk about options to help you quit smoking. Keep a tally in your wallet of the money you saved by not purchasing another pack of tobacco and use it to treat yourself to something special. See a counselor about overeating issues. Shows like The Biggest Loser aren’t successful because they teach people how to work out. Weight loss works when people learn to work out their problems without counting on cramming calories into their bodies.

The point is don’t do it because it’s the New Year, change your life because you know it’s the right time for a new you, even if it’s the middle of April before you get started. Don’t set the goal without laying out the steps you need to succeed and don’t be dissuaded by back sliding. No plan is perfect. Remember you can’t fix everything at once or expect instant results. Resolutions or real solutions, if you want to succeed, will take patience, effort and endurance.

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By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a writer and blogger for Beyond.com. She researches and writes about job search tactics, training, and topics.