Two words sum up New Year’s Resolutions: Faith and Gym. According to LifeWay Research, a 2015 study show that 57 percent of Americans made a health resolution while 52 percent made a faith resolution. Those top two topics lead five categories of New Year’s resolutions. About 43 percent of respondents in the telephone survey, cited use of time as an important resolution. That was followed closely by improving relationships with family (42 percent) and working on finances (37 percent). One third of respondents wanted to improve a relationship with a friend. If you are one of the 75 percent of people who have failed to follow a resolution, you might want to reframe and re-adjust your new year vow. According to Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest, authors of Edit Your Life podcast, try using a different word for resolution. Try thinking of your resolutions as intentions or directions about where you will take the year. If you think of them that way, then you may find yourself broadening your aims. Instead of vowing ‘run one mile a day,’ maybe what you really want to do is spend 30 minutes in dedicated exercise. No matter what your goals, sometimes the hardest become much easier when you whittle down a resolution to the barest bones. If you want to exercise, but you never have actually done it, maybe your resolution should be to just put on your exercise clothes at a specific time every day. Or just exercise for five minutes. That easy vow will get you started. Dornfest recommends you get a confidant to talk with you about pursuing your resolutions. The same person might not be perfect for all your resolutions, though. Koh advises building failure into resolutions. Hey, you are never going to be perfect. If or when you slip up, how will you address the problem? Build in a ‘start again’ plan.
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