HEALTHY LIVING

7 steps to forming realistic New Year's resolutions

Susanne Cervenka
@scervenka

With the hours ticking away to 2015, about 40 percent of Americans will make resolutions for the New Year.

Some of us will find success. About seven in 10 of us will still be going strong for two weeks and only a couple more will drop off after a month, according to research by University of Scranton psychology professor John C. Norcross.

And congrats to the 40 to 46 percent of us who manage to hang on to our resolutions well into the summer.

But how do you form a New Year's resolution that will actually work? One that, perhaps, you might just keep this year? We talked to local experts who gave us seven tips to making your resolutions realistic:

Have a theme for the year. Skip the resolution entirely and instead opt for a theme for the year, said Bailey Frumen, a psychotherapist and lifestyle design coach who works with ambitious women to help them achieve their goals.

Instead of saying you want to lose weight or save more money, Frumen suggests people choose themes such as abundance or health. Then, when a option comes up — Should I spend this money? Or go on that bike ride? — you can chose based on what fits your theme.

How do you choose a theme? Frumen says to reflect on the year that passed and see where your "wins" were, where you saw a sense of victory and what can you do to build on those success.

"The biggest mistake we make is we live the same year for 50 years," she said. "That doesn't get us anywhere. It doesn't help us move the dial forward."

Give yourself visual reminders. Post messages in your environment — on your refrigerator, your bathroom mirror, at your desk — with your year's goal.

"What we see is what we begin to embody," Frumen said.

Journal about your resolutions. Write about what you want your resolution to look like, what you want to achieve and what you want to feel.

Tell a buddy. Let someone else know about your resolution, which research shows will make you more likely to keep it.

"The thing with resolutions, if you make them public, you now have an accountability issue," said David Strohmetz, a psychology professor at Monmouth University.

An "accountability buddy," as Frumen calls this person, can also help you with advice on how to manage all of your life's priorities so you don't become overwhelmed.

Be specific with your goals and make it measurable. If you chose to go the resolution route, instead of having a theme for a year, be specific. Say you want to go to the gym three times this week instead of saying you want to lose weight.

That allows you to track your progress, Strohmetz said.

Celebrate small victories. Reward yourself for keeping on track with your resolution. Because keeping a resolution is a series of small steps, not one giant leap.

"We expect it to be a complete 180. That's the biggest misnomer about (resolutions)," Frumen said. "It's about moving the dial forward one or two notches."

Just make sure your celebration isn't counterproductive to your overall goal, Strohmetz said.

Eliminate all-or-nothing thinking. It's OK if you go astray from your resolution, but don't let a momentary blip keep you from getting back on track.

"If you do something counter to your resolution, that's not the end of your resolution," Strohmetz said. "People tend to have this all or nothing mentality. 'I've fallen off the wagon so what's the point.'"

Keep a positive theme. Frame your resolution around what you want to improve upon, rather than what you want to eliminate, Strohmetz said.

Saying you want to pack your lunch each day accomplishes the same mission as saying you want to save more money.

"You are focusing on the improvement of yourself," he said. "And if you fail, you aren't as hard on yourself."

Also by adding positive actions into your life, you are crowding out the opportunity for your old negative behavior, he said.

"If you are doing one thing, you can't be doing something else," he said.

Susanne Cervenka: 732-643-4229; scervenka@app.com.

What's so hard about resolutions?

What makes keeping a New Year's resolution so dang hard for some? University of Scranton psychology professor John C. Norcross, who wrote Changeology: 5 Steps to Realizing Your Goals and Resolutions, polled Americans in 2013. Here's what we find most difficult:

• Getting started and motivated, 26 percent

• Getting prepared and an action plan, 6 percent

• Actually changing my behavior, 24 percent

• Avoiding relapse to my old behavior in the first couple months, 16 percent

• Slipping quietly back into my old routine over time, 28 percent