Resolution Solution

The failure rate on New Year’s resolutions is very high. By one estimate, 80% of these aspirations fail by the middle of February. But this doesn’t mean they’re bad or that people should not resolve to make changes in their lives.

So if the failure rate is so high, what is the “Resolution Solution”? How do you use this time to turn your health status around?

Change your end point.

That is, change the goal you set for yourself. Don’t set your goal to be losing X# of pounds, running Y# of miles, etc.

Instead, resolve simply to improve on what you have already started. For this year, instead of setting a new endpoint goal, start with where you are already at, and resolve to become more consistent in that area.

For example, instead of resolving to be a size 4 (or whatever), look at your eating patterns and resolve to have more healthy meals more of the time.  Or look at your movement and commit to regular activity for yourself on more days than not.

So focus on this mantra: “more of the time, not all of the time”. This can help move you in a sustainable direction to positively impact the larger areas of health in your life (such as weight, cholesterol and blood sugar).