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A Jarring New Year's Resolution

By W. Eric Martin

New Year's resolutions fall into the same category as campaign promises and marriage vows on television dramas: They sound great when first uttered, dripping with sincerity and ripe with possibility, but no one expects them to last.

And while it's true that some people can quit cigarettes cold turkey or drop chocolate from their diets without a second thought, most of us need more time. "Behavioral change requires sustained effort and commitment," says Pauline Wallin, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in Camp Hill, PA and author of the forthcoming book, Taming Your Inner Brat. "It's also typically accompanied by physical discomfort since reducing food, alcohol, or nicotine intake from a level to which you have become accustomed results in cravings."

Losing thirty pounds, exercising daily, and cutting out cigarettes are all worthy goals that would improve our well-being and extend our lives by years or decades. But all too often, we adopt an all-or-nothing approach that leads only to failure. We skip two days because we're visiting relatives, then we vow to start again next week--suddenly it's July and the only reason we leave the couch is to go buy more chocolate cigarettes.

Wallin suggests setting realistic goals and focusing more on changing your behavior than reaching some ideal target. "If you decide to control your eating, for example, your goal for the day isn't to lose a specific number of pounds but to stick to your program. You will gain satisfaction from making sensible choices several times throughout the day."

With these requirements in mind, consider adapting a household staple-the job jar-to help you achieve resolution success. A job jar, in case you're unfamiliar with the concept, contains numerous slips of paper, each of which names some unpleasant but necessary household task: cleaning out the dryer vents, for example, or spreading fertilizer on the lawn. Whatever job you draw from the jar must be finished by the end of the day.

Using the job jar as a model, you can now create a "resolution jar." First, list all the goals you wish to achieve for the next year, leaving plenty of space between each goal. Next, write down five to ten easy-to-achieve tasks for each goal on your list. If you want to exercise more, you might list the following:

• Walk for thirty minutes outside.
• Do twenty sit-ups.
• Jog in place for fifteen minutes.
• Ride a stationary bike for twenty minutes.
• Walk to the corner store and buy a newspaper.
• Do leg lifts for ten minutes.

Make sure that the goal is specific and achievable within one day. If you want to lose weight, the tasks might include avoiding desert today, eating a salad without dressing, or drinking water instead of cola for one day.

Write up at least forty tasks and put them in a bowl. Every day at the same time, preferably right when you wake up, set aside a half-hour and pick out a task. If it's a task you can do immediately, do it and you're done for the rest of the day. If it's something to be spread throughout the day ("Smoke no more than one cigarette every two hours"), then you have a half-hour free to do something else. If you did your leg lifts and still have time left, pick another task.

If a resolution is complex, such as travelling to another country or writing your million dollar novel, break it down into more manageable tasks (1. Get a passport application; 2. Buy a passport photo; and so forth).

One final addition to your resolution jar: a slip that says, "Create harder tasks." The day you draw that slip spend your half-hour creating more challenging tasks.

Wallin says that research has shown that willpower is like a muscle. By using a resolution jar to get you started, you can develop that muscle to the point that any goal you set your mind to is within reach.

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