Realistic Resolutions For 2008
Involve Reading to Ensure Follow Through with New Year’s Resolutions
Combining reading with action toward a New Year's resolution can encourage success at meeting resolutions.
At the beginning of each year, many individuals make New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately good intentions often fall by the wayside by March for many if not all people as they give up on the changes they planned to make. But with realistic resolutions - and some literary encouragement - New Year’s resolutions do not have to be pipe dreams.
Weight Loss
After weeks of gorging on sweets, rich foods, and decadent drinks, many people feel the pinch in their waistbands and guilt in their consciences in January. No wonder “lose 10 pounds by bathing suit season” (or something in this vein) is one of the top resolutions. Setting a realistic weight loss resolution and understanding the how and why of losing weight is critical to being successful.
Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss and the Myths and Realities of Dieting (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007) by New York Times reporter Gina Kolata examines the on-going weight loss struggle faced by many. The book provides a comprehensive analysis of dieting fads and explains how biochemistry plays a central role in what an individual weighs. Exercise and better eating have myriad health benefits that may or may not be tied to weight loss, and Kolata’s conclusion is that losing weight takes more than just will power and is greatly impacted by genetic predisposition.
Getting Organized
Becoming more organized is one of the most frequent New Year’s resolutions for good reason. The satisfaction of a fresh start is one reason so many people get caught up the organization frenzy. Organization tips advocate a baby steps process: having set places for frequently used items like keys and bags, immediately assigning Outlook tasks as they come in, cleaning up spills as they happen, and keeping on-going to do and shopping lists. Small steps to limit clutter can and will make life easier, but at what cost?
The authors of A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder (Little, Brown & Co., 2007), Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman, advocate that messy systems can actually be more productive than highly organized ones. The authors use Einstein as an example of how random influences may lead to unanticipated breakthroughs. Or a more mundane instance of coming across a document in a stack of work files that relates to another a project. Had the desk been perfectly organized, you may have left vital information out of a report or taken longer to get there. Life is sometimes messy so it’s okay if occasionally the desk is, too.
Healthy Living
The holy grail of New Year’s resolutions is to be healthier in the upcoming year. It takes courage to adopt a healthy living lifestyle, whether taking up exercise, limiting stress by changing jobs or leaving an unhealthy relationship, or becoming more eco-friendly. Encouragement is a central element of success for this broad resolution.
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across India, Italy and Indonesia (Penguin, 2006) by Elizabeth Gilbert chronicles how she picked herself up and changed her life. The dramatic memoir spans her personal search for inner peace across three countries and a year, and is both humorous and detailed in how she both succeeded and failed at her goal. The equilibrium of pleasure, spirituality, and balance she seeks serve as inspirations to keep up with resolutions to live healthier.
If a cooking memoir inspires healthier cooking then it is an ideal self help book; similarly for a fictional tale if it strikes the same theme. No matter what the New Year’s resolution, a book is out there to support it.
