New Year’s Resolutions – Yes or No?

Happy 2018!

2018 – that number just sounds crazy for some reason. I’m probably showing my age by saying that, aren’t I? I admit it, I’m over 30 (ahem!) Okay, maybe a little bit more than that (cough, cough!) Never mind…

The new year brings us a lot of things. A new calendar, the feeling of a fresh new start, a few extra pounds from a fun and delicious holiday season. It also seems to bring on conversations about New Year’s resolutions.

I remember several years ago, going back to the office right after ringing in the New Year and feeling frustrated that all my friends and coworkers seemed to want to talk about was their resolutions, and specifically their new diets. Personally, I’ve never been ready to hit a new regimen on January 1st. Or 2nd. Or even in the first half of January. I’m usually ready to plan for new things and begin psyching myself up for making changes soon after, but never am I ready right at the moment the calendar flips from December 31st to January 1st. It always seemed to me that everyone else I encountered WAS ready to do that. And it made me feel guilty and pressured that I wasn’t.

But now I wonder. I see people I know making the same resolutions every year, and every year they have very good intentions. But life gets in the way, and their resolve falls by the wayside at some point – sometimes even very early in January. I’ve been guilty of this too, and I think it’s why I don’t like making resolutions by a calendar. I prefer allowing myself time to plan and psyche myself up for whatever changes I want to make.

After reading a blog post in Psychology Today by Christine L. Carter Ph.D.,  I’m feeling better about my own personal inclinations.

In the post, Dr. Carter tells us that having thought about and prepared for making a change gives us much better odds for success than diving headfirst into a resolution without any preparation. Citing behavior change researchers James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente, she writes that effective change is a four-stage process, and the actual change is the fourth stage.

The stages are:
1. Not really considering
2. Contemplating
3. Preparing
4. Action

Now I know why New Year’s resolutions, specifically, don’t work for me. I love the holidays – always have – and I immerse myself in them so completely that I just don’t have the time, or really the desire, to start planning for a new diet, or starting to exercise, or getting to bed earlier. I’m somewhere between not really considering and contemplating in December. After New Year’s I’m ready to prepare, and then later in January or early February, I can finally take action.

Maybe I’ll start a new trend – February Resolutions. Want to join me? 😊

Is getting more, or better sleep one of your resolutions (New Year’s or otherwise)? If so, great good luck to you! I hope you’ll find plenty of helpful ideas and information at www.sleepsatisfaction.com.

Happy New Year from Sleep Satisfaction!