By Dr Andree Swanson
Another new year and guess what I received in the mail? Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, 24-hour Fitness
and a whole slew of advertisements that weigh in on (no pun intended) those
people who believe in the power of the New Year’s Resolution. While surfing Facebook, a family member
posted that she had to park a mile away from the gym. In a month, parking will return to normal.
To affect change, you must change your behavior. Norcross, Ratzin, and Payne (1989) conducted
a study on 213 adults who made New Year’s resolutions. “Successful resolvers were also found to
report employing significantly more behavioral strategies and less self-blame
and wishful thinking than unsuccessful resolvers” (Norcross, Ratzin, &
Payne, 1989, Abstract).
Consider
creating a vision board, instead of making New Year’s resolutions. This is not only fun to make, but can be a
constant reminder of your focus for the year.
(I used to do this on a large post-it note on my wall).
Picture provided by Dr. Andree Swanson |
Here are
some tips on how to proceed with your Vision Board.
Picture provided by Dr. Andree Swanson. |
To learn
more about creating a vision board, visit:
Reference
Norcross, J. C., Ratzin, A. C.,
& Payne, D. (1989). Ringing in the New Year: The change processes and
reported outcomes of resolutions. Addictive behaviors, 14(2), 205-212.