6 Ways to Keep Your New Year's Resolutions Going Strong

We're almost at the end of January-how are your dreams and visions coming along? Have you brought your innermost desires off the backburner? Have you started building the foundations for that new career? Have you taken action on the things most important to you?

Studies show that most New Year's Resolutions have a tendency to be dismissed before the first month of the year has even passes.

And the reason is pretty simple. Many goals are made in response to something negative; a habit or situation that the person wants to change or end. And that's where the problem lies-it's hard to develop momentum from a negative response. It is always easier to move toward something than away from something.

Consider one of the most typical goals-weight loss. It's difficult to get excited about losing weight. Sure, maybe the first week or so is thrilling because of the novelty of a new diet or exercise plan. But once the repetition and a sense of deprivation sets in, the plan becomes difficult to maintain. Self-defeating thoughts such as, "It's too difficult. Who am I trying to kid?" creep in.

In my practice, people succeed at losing weight and achieving their goals because they become motivated by a dream much bigger and more positive than moving away from something negative. For example, losing weight might be the starting point of defining the goal, but we quickly move towards defining a more exciting vision of life. They see themselves living the goal. They feel good envisioning the goal. They take steps that are do-able and then they acknowledge the steps taken. Creating a successful and lasting transformation involves learning how to connect with a big dream that is positive in nature.

GOAL SETTING SUCCESS

If you want to create positive change in your life, here are six steps you can take to increase your success:

1. Choose a resolution that enlivens you!

2. See yourself as having already achieved your goal! Make it a 3-D, multi-sensory experience that feels really, really good inside your body.

3. Make sure this goal is something you really want. It's a free choice made by you, not a prison sentence proclaimed upon you.

4. Break down your goal into manageable steps. Take tiny, small, achievable steps daily.

5. Write down your achievements. Reward yourself for your efforts. Feel good in the process-not only once the goal is attained.

6. Be flexible and have fun!

Instead of giving up on your resolutions this year, make a conscious decision about having what you most want. Walk to the nearest mirror, look yourself in the eyes, and be honest with yourself. If your resolution is important to you, make a solid choice and commitment to yourself. Tell yourself, 'I am 100% committed to giving myself what I most want." Decide that this is the year where you see yourself alive with more joy than you've ever had!

If you're serious about losing weight and changing the way you live in your body, check out Body Redesign: Goal Setting Secrets for a Thinner, Happier You at http://www.annettecolby.com/bodyredesign.shtml. Don't just start another diet, start a new life! Learn rock-solid success principles that will absolutely, positively turn your weight loss dreams into reality!

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New Year's Resolutions For Better Brain Health - Part 2

Sleep. Everyone knows you should have 8 hours of sleep each night right? Unfortunately only 27% of Americans report actually getting 8 or more hours. A recent Gallup poll reported that Americans get an average 6.7 hours of sleep each night. Sleep deprivation can have serious effects on your health in the form of physical and mental impairments. Inadequate rest impairs our ability to think, handle stress, maintain a healthy immune system and moderate our emotions. Sleep deprivation results in the loss of sleep's benefits for cognitive processes such as memory and insight formation: the building blocks of learning, creativity, and scientific discovery. Rather than slowing or shutting down while we sleep, our brains are using the time to process information. Your brain is elaborating on what it has taken in during the day.

Elaboration ties the new information with previous knowledge, these connections become part of the brain's organizational system and enable that information to be solidly stored and easily retrieved. Not only is it important to get enough sleep, it is similarly important to maintain a regular sleep cycle or Circadian rhythm. These rhythms are regular changes in mental and physical characteristics that occur in the course of a day and are synchronized with the sleep/wake cycle. Studies indicate that the brain needs regular daily cycles of sleep and wakefulness for memory consolidation or to process and file in long term memory the information we learn. Scientists believe that as we take information in, the brain stores it in a holding area "short term memory", waiting to embed the information in long term memory while we sleep. If we often disrupt the brain's schedule, some of the information held in short term memory may not be fully processed and stored. Strengthen your sleep cycles by exposing yourself to bright light and by waking at the same time each day. Those weekends of sleeping in can actually do more harm than good to cognitive functioning by sabotaging your circadian rhythm.

Find moments of Peace. People who meditate or practice relaxation exercises say it increases their energy, relieves stress and improves both physical and cognitive performance. However, what effect meditating has on the brain has long been a matter of scientific debate. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital used MRI to compare 15 subjects who report meditating regularly and 15 subjects who have never meditated. They found that the subjects who regularly meditated displayed an increase in the thickness of the prefrontal cortex and the right anterior insula, areas involved in attention and sensory processing. The growth of the cortex was not attributed to the development of new neurons, but rather from wider blood vessels and more supporting structures and connections. While meditation is often seen as a religious exercise, I'm not suggesting that you must take up yoga or join an ashram to improve cognitive functioning.

Meditation is primarily about learning to relax and breathe. Find a comfortable, quiet place to sit uninterrupted for 15-20 minutes each day (set a timer so you won't be tempted to keep checking your watch). Close your eyes relax and breathe. Pay attention to your breathing, your inhale, and your exhale, how some breaths are naturally deeper than others. Just breathe naturally but pay attention to each breath. Focus on breathing and progressively relaxing your muscles. If you find your mind wandering, just go back to focusing on your breathing. As you learn to use this focus to relax, you'll find that you will be able to take short 2-5 minute "meditation" breaks throughout the day. If you find disruptive thoughts drifting in, something you need to do, grocery lists, recalling an argument, etc., think about a happy place or happy time then go back to focusing on your breathing. Learning to relax takes practice, don't expect to master meditation right away, but the benefits of improved memory, focus and emotional well-being make the effort well worthwhile. This time for you is an important part of brain health. Learn to say "no" when you're asked to do something you simply don't have time for, give yourself 30 minutes every day just for you, reduce your number of volunteer obligations if you're over extended, help your children learn to engage in one activity at a time.

Lucy Gross-Barlow: As a Speech/Language Pathologist of over 26 years and having practiced in a wide variety of therapeutic settings, Lucy brings to her clients a diversity of patient care knowledge. For the past 12 years, she has specialized her practice in the area of processing disorders and remediation of learning impairments, and she has a passion in seeing her clients succeed in their communicative and learning skills. Lucy now desires to extend the knowledge she has gained in processing and learning remediation to as many children as possible to enable them to reach their full learning and communicative potential in life.

Lucy is a founding partner of The Therapy Group, an association of Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, learning specialists, Speech-Language Pathology Aides, parent teachers, administrators and advocates pioneering an industry in web-based consulting for parents who seek to help their children with learning challenges or those learning with disabilities in achieving academic and social success. Providing parents with resources, learning therapies, proprietary products and programs worldwide.

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