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Living Well
through Successful New Year’s Resolutions
Perry Sanderford Ph.D., LPC, Director of Crossroads Counseling
Do you want
a good life?
Of course you do. Everyone does.
New Year’s resolutions come from an awakening
that another year has passed and we are not
where we want to be in, perhaps, several areas of
life, but most often, in the condition of our body.
Statistics show that good intentions generally fade
as we quickly revert to old habits. So how can you
increase your chances of success with your New
Year’s resolution? Success is more likely when you
challenge more than one part of yourself. Be aware
that your struggle is with more than just your body
image, it is with your “will,” your “thinking,” and
your “feelings.” These areas of self are at the root
of your life choices that impact the condition of
your body.
CHALLENGING YOUR WILL
At the center of real change lies a wrestling
match with your will. What you truly want lies at
the center for choosing. At the very core of your
being human is the freedom one gets to make
choices that ultimately scripts their life story. A
closer look at the results of these choices reveals,
quite often, that our ‘basic wants’ are not always
for our ‘basic best.’
Consider our insatiable desire for sweets (cake,
candy, and ice cream), entertainment (movies,
gaming), leisure (vacations) and spectator activities
(watching others do). Choosing to regularly
engage in such activities, or in-activities, may bring
some form of immediate sensory gratification, but
do they add up to a true quality life? Looking in the
rear-view mirror, or front-view mirror, at the end of
the days...weeks... and months that make up the
year–what were the true gains of your ‘choices?’
Successful New Year’s resolutions begin with recognizing
and challenging, one step at a time, that
our choices ultimately impact our destiny.
The good news is that since your choices belong
to you, you participate in controlling your fate.
CHALLENGING YOUR THINKING
Thinking is a function of your brain that directly
impacts behavior/choices. Since all behaviors begin
with thinking, it is possible to demand honesty
of your thought life with two simple questions:
(1) Is what I am thinking actually true? (2) Does
acting on these thoughts really result in the best
life possible for me?
Whether or not we are willing to demand
honesty of our thought-life, we cannot avoid the
results of the choices they direct. Ask yourself–
does eating a huge dish of ice cream each night or
couch-sitting for hours watching sitcoms, movies,
or gaming, bring the best life? Be honest–in the
end, do these activities actually deliver the good
life you desire? Failing to honestly challenge the
true value of what your thoughts bring may ultimately
end with a destiny that is too late to alter.
You have experienced the very life you “thought”
was good. Time has run out and you have failed to
achieve the quality life for which you’ve longed.
The best life possible is found by those who
honestly challenge whether or not their thinking
actually delivers on that which is best.
52 • JANUARY 2020