15 Experts’ Recommendations to Making New Year's Resolutions Stick

New Year Resolutions

A New Year is not just a calendar mark, it is a trigger point for many people, bringing desire to change the essential life aspects for better, turn around life failures and refresh the dying personal relations. A fresh and optimistic spirit of “new year, new me” motivates many to make a New Year’s resolution. Based on the latest research, more than fifty percent of all Americans decide to themselves to do more or less of something in their day-to-day lives. Losing weight, exercising on a regular basis and becoming adept at financial management usually top the list of resolutions. However, good intentions may gradually turn into setbacks or flat out despair when a well-thought plan evaporates like smoke. The reality is that only 8 percent of folks will succeed to a certain degree at keeping their New Year’s resolutions.

How you Can Decide to Change your Life for Better?

Well, you know the best of all people, what you are really not happy about. That might be a really problem, or might be artificially created. In any case, it is as real as it is real for you. Just to give you statistical sample, of what Americans’ care about the most (2015 data), here is the list of the 10 most popular resolutions:

1. Lose Weight

2. Getting Organized

3. Spend Less, Save More

4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest

5. Staying Fit and Healthy

6. Learn Something Exciting

7. Quit Smoking

8. Help Others in Their Dreams

9. Fall in Love

10. Spend More Time with Family

Do some resolutions ring a bell to you? Or, do you have a wholly different list of the prioritized intentions? Or, you need to discuss the list of the resolutions with your therapist? In any case, making the mental or written list is very important. But it is even more important to act upon pursuing these tasks well over the New Year holidays season.

How to Keep New Year’s Resolutions?

Now you know that keeping the resolutions is not an easy process. Here are some recommendations from the specialists on the strategies and approaches you may consider, helping you on the way to the personal victory.

1. Make it something you really want. Do not make it a resolution, that you "should" want, or what other people may tell you to want. It has to fit with your own values.

"Put some thought into it," says Richard O'Connor, author of "Happy at Last: The Thinking Person's Guide to Finding Joy." And avoid knee-jerk New Year's resolutions, he says. "I encourage people not to make cheap resolutions, but to save it for something meaningful."

2. Limit your list to a number you can handle. "It's probably best to make two or three resolutions that you intend to keep," says O'Connor. That way, you are focusing your efforts on the goals you truly want.

3. Clearly define your goals. Many people in the spirit of New Year’s loudly proclaim, “This is the year I’m going to finally get in shape.” But, what does that mean? Do you intend to lose a certain number of pounds? Reach a body-fat percentage goal? Run three miles without rest? Bang out 10 pull-ups? The first step to behavior change is to clearly understand what “it” is.

4. Visualize the end results. As writer Rod Ebrahimi says, “focus on the carrot, not the stick”. If you are having trouble staying motivated, focus on what you’ll get from your end goal—whether that’s feeling better at a lower weight, being able to impress your friends with your new guitar skills, or just being able to breathe now that you’ve quit smoking. Staying positive seems like common sense, but it can be hard when you are in the middle of a big plateau.

5. Track your progress. “If you can measure it, you can change it” is a fundamental principal of psychology. These measurements will be a source of motivation as you reflect on where you started and where you are. They will also help you to identify plateaus or “sticking points” in your progress so you can adjust your efforts.

6. Make One Change at a Time. Once you understand that you have only a limited amount of willpower, it's easy to understand why multiple resolutions aren't likely to work, says Ian Newby-Clark, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Guelph in Canada. Most resolutions actually require many behavior changes. Sure, some are straightforward, like remembering to take a calcium pill every day — but a successful weight-loss program, for example, calls for more than just a decision to eat less. You have to shop and cook differently, start or ramp up an exercise routine, maybe even ditch certain social or family events. "Thinking through these substrategies boosts success rates," says Newby-Clark. "But it would take too much attention and vigilance to do all that and also decide it's time to brush your teeth for the full two minutes and become better informed about world events."

7. Piggyback Your Resolution with Existing Habits. If your resolution involves building small habits—like, say, flossing every day or taking daily vitamins—you can “piggyback” these habits with other, already-established ones. Stick your dental floss in your shower and floss during your shower, or put your vitamin jar inside your kitchen cupboard so you always remember to take them when you eat breakfast. The easier you can form the habit, the more likely it is to stick.

8. Have patience. You must set realistic goals and realize that progress is never linear. Some people will see rapid gains only to hit resistance later in their efforts. For others, initial progress may be painfully slow but then they suddenly achieve rapid breakthroughs. Making lasting changes takes time.

Experts say it takes about 21 days for a new activity to become a habit and six months for it to become part of your personality. It will not happen overnight, so be persistent and patient!

9. Publicize your goals to friends and family. As embarrassing as it might be to announce your specific resolution to the world, social support is critical. Yes, it takes some personal courage and vulnerability to share something that you might actually fail at, but to dramatically increase your odds of success you will want support from those around you.

10. Put it on your schedule. How often do you hear people say they cannot “find the time” to do something. Nobody finds time. We all choose to spend our time the way we do—whether that’s eating junk food or going to a spin class. Make your new goals a priority and actually schedule them into your calendar. If you have a fitness goal schedule time for your workouts. If you want to declutter, schedule time to clean out your closet on your calendar. If you want to save money, put in a weekly budget review onto your Sunday afternoons. Think of these time blocks as important appointments—just like an appointment with a doctor. Do not automatically schedule something else over them. That which is scheduled gets done.

11. Stop “all or nothing” thinking. It is better do something than nothing. Are you guilty of “all or nothing” thinking? Do you ever think, “Well, I might as well get dessert since I already ate those French fries?” And then, “I blew my diet last night so I’ll just restart it next week.” The difference between doing something rather than nothing is huge. If you do not have a full hour to workout at the gym, just decide to make it the best 20-minutes you can. If you have a slight cold or minor injury, decide to just walk the track for a couple miles. If you have a financial emergency and cannot save your full 10% this month, just save what you can. The bottom line is, any effort towards your goal is better than no effort.

12. Lift Your Spirits. Watching funny movies — or doing just about anything that puts you in a good mood — also helps when willpower starts wearing down. In a particularly sneaky study, researchers asked a group of 30 hungry students to sit in a room that smelled like freshly baked cookies. Although a plate of M&Ms and still-warm cookies was placed within reach, participants were told to snack on a bowl of radishes. Then they were left alone for 10 to 12 minutes in order to exhaust their self-restraint.

Next, some of the students watched a film clip of Robin Williams doing stand-up, while another group viewed a film about dolphins. When, in the last part of the experiment, they were asked to perform a complex tracing project that called for lots of self-control, students who had seen the funny film stuck with the trying task for about 13 minutes. The Flipper crowd hung in for only nine.

13. Get up, when you slip up. None of us are perfect. As the great Vince Lombardi said, “It isn’t whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.” Resiliency is the key. Don’t turn relapses or temporary failures into total meltdowns or excuses for giving up. Instead, just acknowledge the mistake and recommit to the path.

14. Reward Yourself. This does not mean that you can eat an entire box of chocolates if your resolution is to eat a better diet. Instead, celebrate your success by treating yourself to something you enjoy that does not contradict your resolution. If you have been sticking to your promise to eat better, for example, reward yourself with new fitness clothing or by going to a movie with a friend.

15. Ask for support. Accepting help from those who care about you and will listen strengthens your resilience and ability to manage stress caused by your resolution. If you feel overwhelmed or unable to meet your goals on your own, consider seeking professional help. Psychologists are uniquely trained to understand the connection between the mind and body. They can offer strategies as to how to adjust your goals so that they are attainable, as well as help you change unhealthy behaviors and address emotional issues.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2016/01/03/making-new-years-resolutions-stick/

http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/01/03/best-new-years-resolutions-for-your-age.html

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/9-ways-to-keep-your-new-year-s-resolutions-1.aspx

http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/10-ways-to-make-your-new-years-resolutions-stick

http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/resolution.aspx

http://lifehacker.com/5971803/top-10-strategies-for-making-your-new-years-resolution-stick

How Media Misleads the Public, Exaggerating E-Cigarettes Harm?

Do E-Cigarettes Lead to Popcorn Lungs?

A Harvard study claiming most e-cigarette brands expose users to harmful chemicals omits critical information and exaggerates the risks of flavored e-cigarettes, according to tobacco control experts.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, analyzes a host of e-liquid flavors to discover levels of potentially dangerous chemicals diacetyl, acetyl propionyl, and acetoin.

The researchers found one or more of the three chemicals in 92 percent of the 51 unique flavors of e-liquid. Diacetyl is identified in 39 of 51 flavors – 75 percent of the total.

Following the study, an array of media outlets focused on the presence of diacetyl, a chemical used for food flavoring that if inhaled in large amounts can lead to a severe respiratory disease – bronchiolitis obliterans.

Bronchiolitis obliterans is commonly known as “popcorn lung,” because it was identified in workers who inhaled the artificial butter flavor used to make microwavable popcorn. A number of cases of popcorn lung have been found to be so severe in some patients that they have required a full-blown lung transplant.

The Harvard study whipped up a storm of hyperbolic headlines including “Harvard study finds that E-cigarette flavors cause lung disease” and “Chemicals in Flavored E-Cigarettes Tied To ‘Popcorn Lung’ Disease.”

But the headlines may be shielding the truth about the potential risk of popcorn lung from using e-cigarettes. Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos, an expert on e-cigarette research and an opponent of putting diacetyl in e-liquids, writes, “tobacco cigarette smoke contains high levels of diacetyl and acetyl propionyl, on average 100 and 10 times higher,” compared to average e-cigarette exposure.

Farsalinos draws the disparity between tobacco and e-cigarettes from research conducted by himself and colleagues published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research in 2014.

Not only are levels of diacetyl far higher in tobacco smoke than e-cig vapor, but the levels of dangerous compounds found in many of the products studied “are absolutely minimal, and it is not expected to raise any concerns about human health effects,” according to Farsalinos.

Farsalinos adds that the researchers fail to mention the presence of these compounds in tobacco cigarette smoke. “This omission creates the impression that e-cigarettes are exposing users to a new chemical hazard while in reality their exposure will be much lower compared to smoking.” He concludes that the study is guilty of “creating false impressions and exaggerates the potential risk from diacetyl and acetyl propionyl exposure through e-cigarettes.”

But even more concerning for those who may want to exaggerate the risks of using e-cigarettes, is that even tobacco smoke has no identifiable link with any cases of popcorn lung.

According to Critical Reviews in Toxicology, “smoking has not been shown to be a risk factor for bronchiolitis (popcorn lung).“

Since tobacco smoke contains far higher levels of diacetyl than flavored e-cigarettes and there has not been a single confirmed case of a smoker contracting popcorn lung, the likelihood that vapers will contract this particular lung disease is minimal, to say the least.

Bill Godshall, executive director of Smokefree Pennsylvania and a long-time anti-smoking activist, is even more damning in his criticism of the Harvard study.

“This is yet another Department of Health and Human Services-funded study that is intended to deceive and scare the public about vaping to lobby for Food and Drug Administration’s deeming ban.

“While finding zero evidence of ‘Popcorn Lung,’ the authors are trying to create a public panic,” Godshall tells The Daily Caller News Foundation. Pro-vaping groups are also quick to point out that few people have claimed e-cigarettes are completely free of any health risk.

Greg Conley, president of the American Vaping Association tells TheDCNF, “in the debate over vaping, the concept of relative risk should not be ignored. Vapor products are a far safer alternative to smoking, but it has long been recognized that they are not 100 percent safe.

“Earlier this year, a dozen public health groups endorsed Public Health England’s briefing estimating vaping to be approximately 95 percent less hazardous than smoking. Their assessment left room for some unknown risk from ingredients like flavorings.”

Are E-Cigarettes Safer Alternative for Smoking?

Vaping is safer than smoking and could lead to the demise of the traditional cigarette, Public Health England (PHE) has said in the first official recognition that e-cigarettes are less damaging to health than smoking tobacco. The health body concluded that, on “the best estimate so far”, e-cigarettes are about 95% less harmful than tobacco cigarettes and could one day be dispensed as a licensed medicine in an alternative to anti-smoking products such as patches.

While stressing that e-cigarettes are not free from risk, PHE now believes that e-cigarettes “have the potential to make a significant contribution to the endgame for tobacco”.

The authors of the report also found that regular users of e-cigarettes are almost exclusively adults who are already smokers. In fact, the rate of youths and adults who smoke cigarettes has continued to decline in England, and there is no current evidence that e-cigarettes are "renormalizing smoking or increasing smoking uptake," they write.

In addition, there is no evidence that e-cigarettes are a "gateway" to tobacco products for teens and young adults. Despite some experimentation among never smokers, e-cigarettes are attracting very few people who have never smoked, the authors, led by Ann McNeill, PhD, professor of tobacco addiction at the National Addiction Centre, King's College, and Peter Hajek, PhD, CClinPsych, director of the tobacco dependence research unit at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London, United Kingdom.

Additional E-Cigarettes Benefit over Regular Cigarettes

Since you are “burning” tobacco, not to mention using an open flame to light it, traditional cigarettes by default pose serious fire hazards. Cigarettes are in fact the #1 cause of fire-related death in the United States and seven other countries. Worldwide, fires started by lit cigarettes constitute 10% of all fire-related deaths.

With e-cigarettes, you are not burning an open flame and do not have a hot cherry that can burn you, your clothes, your furniture, and so on.

There was an incident where an e-cigarette exploded in the user’s face in early 2012. It was determined though that the particular unit the person was using was a “mod,” which is a way vapers can alter their devices for more power that involves stacking the batteries. When used as intended, there have been no reports of an e-cigarette exploding.

Sources and Additional Information:

http://dailycaller.com/2015/12/09/how-the-media-totally-exaggerated-study-on-risk-of-popcorn-lung-from-e-cigarettes/

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/19/public-health-england-e-cigarettes-safer-than-smoking

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/850083

http://www.learn.eversmoke.com/5-benefits-over-cigarettes.html

http://smoking-tobacco.blogspot.com/

Parents Unrealistic Expectations May Harm Their Kids

Our research revealed both positive and negative aspects of parents' aspiration for their children's academic performance. Although parental aspiration can help improve children's academic performance, excessive parental aspiration can be poisonous.

Kou Murayama, PhD, of the University of Reading

Turns out all that loving support from moms and dads, who let their kids know that they have high hopes for their academic success, can backfire — big time.

According to a new study recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, when parents aspired for their child to get higher grades than they expected the student would actually get, the teen’s performance tanked. “Much of the previous literature conveyed a simple, straightforward message to parents — aim high for your children and they will achieve more,” the study’s lead author Kou Murayama, a professor of psychology at the University of Reading in England, explained in a press release. But that wasn’t what he found in his research — on more than 3,500 teens over the course of five years, looking at students’ math grades each year along with parents’ assessment of how much they want their child to earn a specific grade and to what degree they believe that the teenager will do so. “Unrealistically high aspiration,” he added, “may hinder academic performance.”

In fact, all that well-meaning cheerleading that can help boost a kid’s grades, can be downright “poisonous” if it is “excessive,” he said. “There are parents who put a lot of pressure [on kids] to get good grades even if it is very difficult for the children to get such a high grade,” Murayama tells Yahoo Parenting. “They tend not to look at children as they are but as their ideal children.”

Figuring out what’s realistic isn’t as tricky as it may sound, though. Linda Houser, president of The Association of Teacher Educators, tells that it is simply a matter of putting academic achievement in perspective. “What we see from parents is that ‘A’ is the grade that everyone is expecting their child to receive if they’ve studied and worked hard but it’s just not the case that that will happen,” she says. “Over the years what an ‘A’ means has changed too. It used to be considered above and beyond and only a very few received it. Now, it’s almost become the normal grade expected. That’s why we see ‘A+’ grades now and grade inflation.”

Top results on standardized test scores are often expected by parents as well, she adds. “But the way these tests are structured, you’re always going to have people in the lower quartiles,” says Houser. “Many parents think that their kids always have to be at the top yet they can’t all be.”

Flawless homework assignments are another off-base target. “Obviously children are learning,” she says. “If they already knew all this, there wouldn’t be any reason to have the learning experience. Sometimes, parents don’t realize that homework is about practicing a new idea and students may not be perfect at it the first few times. Learning takes time and to always strive for your child to ‘get it’ easily and perfectly the first time is not only unrealistic, it doesn’t benefit the child because they don’t get the experience of investigating the concepts, practicing and improving on it.”

Even the expectation of active class participation every day can be over the top, Houser adds. “Every child is a different and unique human being. Some learn by listening and thinking. Sure we want them to participate but that may look different from raising their hand each time and volunteering to answer every question. Sometimes it’s the quiet student who may be thinking and using her critical skills the best.”

So before parents spell out specific academic achievements that they hope their teens will achieve, Houser urges moms and dads: “Base your expectations on the student’s personal strengths and their individual areas of encouragement.” That, she says, is A+ parenting.

The recent study supports the data received from the previous researches, and have well-grounded theoretical perspectives, helping parents not to overestimate their kids capabilities, willpower, and not setup the level of expectations so high that it might become dangerous both for the students and their parents. That is true – it is not good for your kid, it is not good for you!

When a child does not perform according to expectations, the parent's stress level rises. Changes occur in the parent's behavior—extra doses of impatient body English and insistent harshness in the voice, for instance—, which become setting events for deviant behavior by the child. When you bear down harder, in other words, you increase the likelihood that your child will escape and avoid your authority, which will inspire you to bear down even harder, and so on. The spiral of escalation twists up and up, sometimes to the point that a parent loses it and ends up doing something normally unthinkable—slapping small children, for instance, for failing to nap when they're supposed to.

When we enforce unreasonable expectations, and especially when we punish according to them, we put stress on kids, who respond by avoiding, escaping, and becoming irritable. Ironically, that puts them off whatever activity, skill, or virtue we are trying to inculcate, making it aversive rather than attractive.

At the same time, parental expectations can have a strong, positive effect on children’s academic success. In a study conducted published by the Harvard Family Research project, Professor William H. Jeynes of California State University at Long Beach found that parental expectations affected children’s academic outcomes more than other types of parental involvement, including attendance of school events and clear rules. Thus, establishing healthy academic expectations and communicating these expectations to kids can be an important key to fostering success in school.

So, the key is moderation – be reasonable with your expectation. Be a loving parent – listen to your child, do not ignore verbal and non-verbal signs of tiresomeness and exhaustion. Be reasonable, evaluating your kids’ capabilities, and try to highlight the strong traits, leading to the right choice of the area of application in the future. If your kid is not good in chemistry, do not hope him or her to become the Nobel Prize winner in the field. May be, programming will be better target application?

We always try to do what we consider as the best for our kids. Sometimes, we really overdo on our efforts, potentially affecting their happy childhood and youth and converting them to the adults, recovering from tough childhood experience on therapy sessions. What your kids need most of all is unconditional love. Please do not hide your real feeling – let your kids know that you love them!

Sources and Additional Information:

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/parents-with-unrealistic-expectations-may-set-up-193141243.html

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151117112652.htm

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2008/11/why_cant_johnny_jump_tall_buildings.html

http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/effects-parental-expectations-kids-4183.html