Change Your Life - For Good!

This month Shape Magazine presented an article "Change Your Life - for Good" and I couldn't help but share...

We've all "resolved" to do a lot of things that never seemed to get done, try this no-fail strategies and get it done!

1. Watch Your Wording
Many a resolution have failed simply because they were expressed too vaguely.  So rather than saying, for instance "I will be more organized," try, "I'll spend 15 minutes of each day de-cluttering part of one room."  In lieu of "I want to lose weight," shoot for "I plan to drop 1 pound a week by cutting out late-night snacking."

2. Build Your Case
To help clarify your goals and pump up your motivation, make a list of pros and cons.  So if you're aiming to exercise more, for example, pros would include as many reasons as possible to support that (e.g., you'll lose weight, sleep better, boost your immunity, and lower stress). The cons would identify anything that might stand in the way of your success- say, a packed schedule or money issues.  Don't even attempt to tackle that resolution until the driving factors dramatically outweigh the obstacles.  If you've got a whole string of pros odds are you'll remember why you're sticking with it!

3. Set Up Incentives
The urge to return to your old was is going to be pretty powerful at times, which is why it's critical to regularly galvanize and even reward yourself.  For high-tech encouragement, turn to websites like habitforge.com and stickk.com.  They'll send you e-mails with inspirational messages and even let you wager on your accomplishment.  You can arrange for your hard-earned cash to be given away to a friend if you don't meet your goals.  How's that for motivation?

4. Rally Support
Research proves that people who make healthy changes together are more likely to succeed.  Try to find someone with similar objectives - if your close pals aren't up for your brand of self-improvement, branch out!

5. Plan Ahead for Slip-Ups
Setbacks are inevitable.  But you can improve your changes of a quick recovery by visualizing the fallout in advance.  Imagine yourself reaching for a cigarette or biting into that forbidden piece of devil's food cake.  What will you do to avoid smoking the whole pack or scarfing down every sweet in sight for the rest of the day? Sometimes it's as simple as reminding yourself that a small misstep is just that - a pause in your progress rather than an excuse to throw in the towel.  Remember a SETBACK is a perfect SETUP for a COMEBACK!