It's time to remind ourselves of our New Year's goal

By Jane Clapp, BComm, CPTN, ACE, CFP

This is just about the time many people realize their New Year's resolutions to make healthful changes are not much more than tragic memories. Understanding why these worthwhile efforts get pushed aside may help inspire you to get back on track. It is not too late!

Many well-intentioned changes are doomed because people try to tackle too many changes at once. (Sound familiar?) Instead, people need to set a larger goal and break their lifestyle transformation into small, easy-to-implement chunks. For example, week one: get used to eating a protein-rich breakfast. Week two: add exercising twice per week (and build up to four times per week by week 6). Week three: cut out simple carbohydrates in addition to maintaining the goals achieved in week one and week two. Get the idea?

When people set unrealistic, unachievable goals the resulting failure further damages their confidence that they can change. Another "failure" makes people feel even worse than before they set their New Year resolutions. If that is what happened to you this year, remember the old saying: It doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down, it matters how many times you get back up!

So New Year resolutions can be successful if you follow the rules of making goals SMART -- Simple, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed.

I just recently started believing in the power of New Years' resolution. In many ways I choose to adopt alternative outlooks on the world. I like to think I march to the beat of my own drum. So when it came to New Year's resolutions I turned my nose up at the idea by pure reflex. But I decided to research the whole New Year's resolution custom to see how long we've been using the first day of the year as the starting line to make changes in our lives.

The tradition of the New Year's resolution goes back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome, was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces--one on the front of his head and one on the back--he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts to mark the beginning of each year.

So after reading a brief history of New Year's resolutions I decided that maybe this tradition has been around for so long for a very good reason. Maybe we all need a day on the calendar to inspire us to reassess our choices. Maybe being a cliche isn't so bad.

Here's the kicker though. We need accountability to keep us on track. Whether that accountability is monitored by a partner, a personal trainer, a life coach or a therapist, we all need to lean on each other for support when making changes in our lives.

Success is what keeps people inspired to plow forward with more change. People setting up failures for themselves fall into the victim mentality plaguing North American culture. Not trying to change or not setting up efforts properly lead some people to perceive themselves as powerless, leading to more years of unhealthy health choices.

This victim mentality bleeds into all aspects of people's lives and a person's sense of empowerment with work, family and spirituality.

Life isn't going to get easier by accident. Becoming physically stronger and healthier will help us deal with all the challenges life throws at us. No one else is responsible for our health, and without positive change we will continue to get fatter, weaker and more dependent on old school medicine interventions to help us manage disease and chronic medical conditions.

Your goal to be healthier was a good idea on January 1, and now you know how to make it work. It's not too late to make 2008 the year of healthy changes.

Jane Clapp created a distinctive fitness approach that addresses the specific challenges a desk worker faces. Her potent brew of training alchemy blends functional training, weight management, postural awareness and mind body work to proven effect. Jane co-authored a book titled "Working on the Ball: A Simple Guide to Office Fitness" that takes the reader through a full day of exercises using a stability ball as a chair. It's the first guide to tackle the challenges of the office worker who wants to lose weight, get fit, improve posture and combat stress where we spend the most time - the workplace.

Jane earned her bachelor of commerce degree specializing in Human Resource Management and later worked for large corporations in workplace health and safety, change management, employee wellness and training. Jane is the founder of Urbanfitt Studio(www.urbanfitt.com) in Toronto providing superior holistic health and wellness services to a high profile clientele. She has appeared on numerous television shows and in several national newspapers and magazines sharing her expertise and inspiration.

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