Aging Backward Tuesday Tips #28: Making it a "Happy" New Year

"When one door closes, another opens." Did you know it was Alexander Graham Bell who uttered that famous quote? Here's the rest of the quote -- the part that we don't usually hear: "...but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

The end of one year and the beginning of a new one is a perfect time to ignore the "closed door" and focus on the newly-opened one.

If you're like most people, you probably make annual New Year's resolutions, vowing to lose weight, quit smoking, start exercising, spend more time with family, get a better job, buy a house...the list goes on. The tradition of setting New Year's resolutions dates back to the ancient Babylonians and people have been breaking them ever since, but the secret may be to commit to just ONE resolution: be happy! According to extensive research conducted by Sonya Lyubomirsky, Ph.D. and her colleagues at [University of California, Riverside (UCR), "Our review provides strong support that happiness, in many cases, leads to successful outcomes, rather than merely following them." In addition, "Happy individuals are more likely than their less happy peers to have fulfilling marriages and relationships, high incomes, superior work performance, community involvement, robust health and even a long life." LifeTwo devoted an entire week to happiness and you can read about it here.

If you do choose to make a list of New Year's resolutions, here are some tips to help you keep them so you don't join the millions of people who celebrate January 17th as "Break Your Resolution Day."

Aging Backwards New Year's Resolution Tips

1) Be happy. Make happiness your number one resolution. According to Dr. Sonya Lyubomirsky, "Sustainable increases in happiness are possible through the practice of intentional cognitive, motivational and behavioral activities that are feasible to deploy but require daily and concerted effort and commitment."

2) Keep your list short. Choose a few realistic goals, write them down and make a commitment to work on them daily.

3) Use the Buddy System. Sharing resolutions with a spouse, partner, friend or family member may help you stick with your goal. The "buddy" can help to motivate you and keep you accountable.

4) Be realistic. If your goal is to lose weight, instead of making a resolution to lose 50 pounds, which can seem overwhelming, why not make the goal "lose two pounds a week" instead, which is more manageable?

5) Avoid extremes. Setting a resolution such as "I'll never eat sugar again" is setting yourself up for failure. Keep the word "never" out of your resolutions because never is pretty unattainable.

6) Be specific. Many people include "Exercise more" on their list of resolutions. Instead of resolving to simply "exercise more," write down a plan to exercise that spells out specifically how you're going to accomplish it. Example: "I'm going to wake up one hour earlier five days a week to exercise."

7) Try it for 28 days. Experts agree that it takes 28 - 31 days to make a new habit or break an old habit. Tell yourself, "I can do ANYTHING for 28 days" and stick to it. By then you'll be well on your way to actually accomplishing your goal.

8) Forgive and forget. We all have weak moments. If you find yourself "breaking" your resolutions, dust yourself off and start over. Nobody is perfect.

9) Reward yourself. If your goal is to lose weight, reward yourself with a professional manicure and pedicure or a new pair of shoes for every ten pounds lost. Men, here's a secret: you can get manicures and pedicures too!

10) These resources may help. Lifehacker.com has a list of resources that may help to make it easier to achieve your goals, such as the Fit Day free food diary, Joe's Goals daily goal tracking, Backpack to get organized, and more.

I hope these tips help you to make 2008 the year you achieve your New Year's resolutions. I'd love to hear about your successes, so please don't hesitate to write to me at: jackie@agingbackwards.com.

Happy New Year!