New Year's Resolutions -Didn't They Sound Like A Good Idea? Life Coach Millie Grenough Offers a Simple Resolution Solution

    STAMFORD, CT, January 25, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- So you promised to lose weight and quit smoking and get organized and start exercising and, and, and.... Are you among the multitudes of well-meaning people who made some glorious resolutions for 2011? Did you promise yourself that this time you would really keep them? And now only a few weeks later those resolutions are down the drain - yet again.

Is there a reason why most New Year's resolutions fail? According to Millie Grenough, Life Coach and Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, the reasons are simple. She says, "Most of us make our resolutions during that groggy time between Christmas and New Year's, when we feel overspent, overeaten, over-stressed, and just over the top in general. We all know that we want the next year to be different so we throw darts randomly at all kinds of things that are important to us." She continues, "We are neither practical nor truly specific about the resolutions, so there's a very slim chance that we will actually carry them out."

Grenough explains the resolution dilemma by talking about one of her life coach clients. "My client mentioned that last year was really bad for her and her family. She was determined to make this year better. So she wrote in her diary on December 31 that in 2011 she would lose 5 lbs by April 1. That she would get more exercise and that she would also spend more time with her family. But crash! Three weeks later she hadn't done a thing about her resolutions and was getting stressed out because she felt like she had failed and truly considered herself hopeless. She was tired, had gained 3 pounds and was overwhelmed with her lack of time and the demands of her family," stated Grenough.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. If you conducted a poll today, you would find that thousands or even millions of people are in the same boat with you.

So is there a solution? What can we do to make our resolutions stick? Grenough says, "First of all, change your emotional channel. Get off the Failure Channel. The more you feed that channel, the more of a failure you will be- and that will certainly drain your energy."

Okay, you're off the Failure Channel. Now what? Grenough recommends going to the Can-Do Channel because now is a perfect time to switch from Failure to Can-Do. It's not too late.

Grenough also suggests the following: Get a calendar, a sheet of paper, and a pencil. Sit yourself down in a comfortable place. Take a few deep breaths beginning with long exhales. As you exhale, breathe out all your worries, your heaviness. As you inhale, actively breathe in fresh air, fresh start. Do this three times. Now you're ready for simple, clear action.

- Target one specific area - for example: lose weight, get my body moving, improve my health, spend more time with family, give myself some "personal" time. Choose only one of these areas.
- Pick a specific target date to carry out your commitment - not too close, not too far away. For example, between now and Valentine's Day, I will focus on....
- Imagine how you'd like to look/feel on that date - choose something appealing. For instance, I will feel lighter / healthier / more beautiful as I walk down the street. Actually close your eyes and visualize yourself looking and feeling that way on your target date. Begin a new channel now to reinforce that - the beauty channel, or health channel, or I'm more fun to be around channel. Pick whatever gives you energy and motivation.
- Choose one specific action in your target area- for example, if you selected "get my body moving", make your resolution real by selecting a very specific action. Commit to one action, say exactly how long you will do it, and when. Here's an example of a good commitment: it's specific, doable- and it doesn't even cost any money:
---I will walk in my neighborhood at least fifteen minutes a day three days a week, before work. Best days for me are Monday, Tuesday and Friday. If I can't do it one of those days in the morning, I will do it at lunchtime or after work. Saturday is my backup day if I miss a day.
- Put your commitment into action - take out your calendar now. Mark your target dates: when to begin and when to end. Now draw in a star by the three days of each week that you plan to keep your commitment. Write in the exact time of day you plan to do it. In other words, make a date with yourself.
- Celebrate your successes - buy some gold stars or borrow some from your kids. Every day that you accomplish your action, give yourself a gold star. You may even feel so good as you go along that you want to up your ante - increase the number of days you walk, or how long you walk. You never know what might happen when you take action...

According to Grenough, that's the 'resolution solution' and it's simple and clear. She admits there will be skeptics and continues, "Right now, if you hear yourself saying, 'Yeah, but that's too simple. That won't really change me...,' switch from skeptic to can-do. Give it a shot. Remember the saying The longest journey begins with a single step. Or, as Grenough's Latino friends say, Poco a poco se anda lejos = Little by little, one walks far. Most of all, have fun!"

Treat yourself to an OASIS New Year and change your channel. Find more practical and simple strategies in Grenough's book OASIS in the Overwhelm which is available at www.milliegrenough.com or www.amazon.com.

MILLIE GRENOUGH, Coach, Author, Speaker, Clinical Instructor, Social Work of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine is the author of OASIS in the Overwhelm: 60-second strategies for balance in a busy world and OASIS in the Overwhelm 28 Day Guide: Rewire Your Brain from Chaos to Calm and OASIS en la Adversidad.

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