HEALTH TIP

Many of us mark the New Year by making personal resolutions, but before long, we get caught up or busy with life, forget our resolve, and get back to our old ways, figuring there is always time later to make changes. Finding inspiration is a powerful way to keep the momentum. Here is some age-old wisdom that will help you stay motivated.

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new. – Socrates

As you are working toward your new resolutions, you may find that you get much better results when you frame changes as new and positive. Rather than say, “I will stop eating junk food,” try building up a new healthy habit by saying “I will try two new delicious vegetables every week.” Stop beating yourself up for the unhealthy habits of the past. What matters is that you are building new habits now. As you build new habits, you will find they begin to replace the less healthy ones. For example, let’s say your goal was to quit smoking—try changing that to "embrace health and fitness." If you decide to jog a few miles every day, you will quickly find that smoking is incompatible with your new goal to jog, and you may naturally cut back on smoking. Better still, you might find yourself in a pretty good place to quit altogether a few months down the line.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. – Lao Tzu

Making sweeping, whole-life changing resolutions is a ton of pressure to put on yourself all at once—and you are more likely to burn out than succeed. So, just start with one simple step and slowly build up. Give yourself clear, incremental actions. If your goal is to be less stressed, begin with one small step in that direction: write five minutes in a journal every night; meditate for five minutes every day; or start a restorative yoga/tai chi practice one day a week. Give it a few weeks, take note of any progress, and then increase your time for stress-reducing activities. Imagine what you could accomplish by 2015 if you just took that first step!

It is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection. – Bhagavad Gita

The most important thing is to make resolutions that inspire you. There are all sorts of changes you could make to keep up with the Joneses, but there is no point in trying to change yourself into someone you don’t actually want to be. It is better to choose resolutions that resonate with your own values, even if you can’t always do it perfectly. And by the way, making changes is never a process of perfection. You will get sidetracked sometimes, you will lose your way—and that is fine! Take a breath, remember who you are, remember your purpose for the resolution, and try again the next day. Over time, you will see that you are making changes that lead you closer to the life you want, even if it looks messy along the way.

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