Jan 14, 2015 4 min read

Notice: Undefined offset: 0 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/strategically_placed_photos_article.php on line 412

Notice: Trying to get property 'term_id' of non-object in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/strategically_placed_photos_article.php on line 412

The year is 2014. The masses are gluttonous, hedonistic creatures, intent to gorge themselves with unhealthy food, drink and maybe even, gasp, nicotine.

Present day: Humankind all eat healthfully, exercise their bodies and minds, do not imbibe and do not even consider letting a single cigarette pass their (collective) lips.

Oh … if only New Year’s resolutions were so easy.

As the world celebrates the advent of a brand new year, millions will pledge to keep a resolution – or two – as the slate is wiped clean and the opportunity to begin anew presents itself.

A resolution, according to the Oxford dictionary, is “a firm decision to do or not do something.” So, a woman wanting to lose 30 pounds might join a gym, ban “junk” food from the house and vow to only drink noncaloric beverages. A man who wants to stop smoking will stick on a nicotine patch or begin obsessively chewing nicotine gum, avoiding the convenience store where he usually purchases his cigarettes and skipping the outdoor smoke breaks at his job.

“A firm decision,” yet, according to University of Scranton research, just 8 percent of people achieve their New Year’s goals.

Resolutions “may work for some people, but the experience of most seems to be a hopeful start soon followed by a disappointing loss of motivation and shame at having failed to follow through yet again,” said Elizabeth Babcock, a clinical social worker and therapist, via e-mail. “My belief is that if you’re not invested enough in an idea to be doing it on Dec. 31, it’s not going to hold up all that well just because the calendar changes to a new year.”

Ivan Lambert, a counselor at Comprehensive Counseling in Washington, said that he has witnessed similar failures and will see an increase in patients in March or April, when “people will finally come to the realization that they may need more help and resources than they currently have.”

Lambert, who has been in practicing since the late 1970s, said that people are destined to be unsuccessful in breaking bad habits when they don’t address the cause of their actions.

“It’s very difficult to change a behavior because, the vast majority of the time, the habit was put in place to address some type of emotional need,” he said. “Just taking away a behavior does not address the underlying issue.”

Lambert and Babcock agree that another block to victory is that resolutions aren’t seen as an opportunity, but as a punishment.

“They often involve behavioral choices that have some inherent resistance built in,” said Babcock, who practices in McMurray. “‘I’m doing this because I think I need to and my life should be better if I do, but I’m not really glad to be doing it.’ That pre-existing resistance usually comes into sharper focus before the new behavior can generate enough good results to start creating its own sustaining momentum.”

In order to keep resolutions, one must garner at least some enjoyment from a new endeavor.

“It’s a set-up for failure when we try to do something we don’t particularly enjoy doing,” said Lambert.

“Don’t set as a goal anything that you feel any resistance to at all, because the resistance will be the beginning of the end,” Babcock said. “Tweak the goals until you can feel at least neutral toward them … You don’t have to love it, but you must not mind it at all.”

Motivation, said Lambert, will follow when engaging in an enjoyable experience.

While New Year’s resolutions may seem like a waste of time, another local therapist believes that just making the decision to change a behavior or improve health is half of the battle.

“Should young people or adults slip or not follow through – it’s OK,” said Melissa Galiotto, state and nationally licensed psychotherapist, in an email. “Once you have made that decision, you are halfway to your goal.”

Through her research, Galiotto, who practices in the North and South Hills, has found success in engaging as many parts of the brain as possible. For example, someone trying to stop drinking would go to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Next, that person could reflect on their new habit by writing in a journal. Third is visualizing success, such as in an art project, and last, sharing progress with friends, family or support groups.

“For my patients, we check in weekly or monthly and discuss the next step or a goal to keep building on goals,” Galiotto said. “Often they say that checking in with someone not intimately connected to their lives … is helpful.”