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Just 8% of People Achieve Their New Year’s Resolutions. Here’s How They Do It.
Forbes: Let me guess: You want to lose weight in 2013, or maybe just eat healthier. Perhaps you want to spend less money or spend more time with your friends and family. I know I do. Self-improvement, or at least the desire for it, is a shared American hobby. It’s why so many of us—some estimates say more than 40% of Americans—make New Year’s resolutions. (For comparison, about one-third of Americans watch the Super Bowl.) ... “We say if you can’t measure it, it’s not a very good resolution because vague goals beget vague resolutions,” says John Norcross of the University of Scranton. Read the whole story: Forbes
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Resolutions: So Irresistible, So Hard to Keep
The Wall Street Journal: It's a scenario most of us know well: We start out on a grand plan to exercise more, lose weight or cut out the cigarettes. Then we fail, sometimes repeatedly, each time convincing ourselves that next time we'll manage. Why can't we stick to the plan, and why do we try again? ... Having hope that one can achieve a goal, and making repeated efforts to reach it, can sometimes be necessary, says Janet Polivy, a psychology professor at the University of Toronto who has studied dieters for decades. After all, people may need several tries to learn from their mistakes or come up with better strategies.
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The 21-Minute Marriage Cure!
The Huffington Post: I know. I know. It sounds like one of those late-late night TV pitches, or some volume on the self-help shelf of a bookstore. Six-pack abs or a lucrative new career today -- no effort required. Only $19.95 -- half off if you act now! I'm as cynical as you are about such claims, and we're right to be. Any offer of something for nothing is almost always a gimmick or scam. But what if such a claim were based on scientific theory and supported by credible evidence? Would we be able to put our skepticism aside and give the claim a fair hearing, even if it sounds outlandish? Eli Finkel is hoping that you can.
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Willpower is limited, so say yes to dessert
The Globe and Mail: If you haven’t already overdosed on shortbread cookies, eggnog and other holiday treats, the big meal on Tuesday is sure to put you over the top. Sure, advice on how to trim calories and fat abounds. Skip the appetizers (especially that triple-crème cheese or those 1,000-calorie-a-handful sugary spiced nuts). Use a smaller plate. Choose between wine and dessert. (Good luck with that.) But willpower expert Roy Baumeister, co-author of the best-seller Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength, says focusing on the meal doesn’t account for all the other simultaneous draws on your willpower during the holidays. Read the whole story: The Globe and Mail
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Happy New Year: Pick Up a New Skill
The New Yorker: New Year’s Eve is a time for reflection about the year that passed and a time to set goals for the future. Should we keep doing what are we doing, or should we tackle new challenges? If you’re seven, or twelve, or twenty, it’s easy to think about new ambitions: learn Spanish, learn to paint, do a flip off your skateboard. But what if you’re older? For me, much of the past year revolved around discussions prompted by a book of mine that was published in January, called “Guitar Zero,” about the science of learning and my own adventures in learning guitar at the age of forty.
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Focus on Yourself to Alleviate Social Pain
Scientific American Mind: Many people who suffer the pain, depression and negative health effects associated with social anxiety or loneliness do not respond to common therapy tactics or drugs. Two new studies offer hope from an unlikely source: rather than focusing on your relationships with others, turn inward for relief. Mindfulness meditation—which has been around for well over 2,000 years—has many forms, but an extensive body of research supports the effectiveness of one training program in particular. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an eight-week program developed in 1979 by a U.S. physician.
