Planning Your New Year's Resolution

At the beginning of 2007 an estimated seven million Britons made New Year's resolutions - half of whom apparently make the same resolution every year, according to surveys.

A total of 46% of people pledged to sort out their finances, Of 1,000 people questioned, a fifth planned to lose weight and eat more healthily and 8% to give up smoking.

One in four said they had given up on their previous years resolutions within a week.

And 39% of good intentions had been abandoned by the end of January.

Of those planning financial changes, half wanted to save more and half wanted to budget better.

A third pledged to get out of debt and the same amount wanted to invest more.

A quarter of people hoped to get on to the property ladder during the year and one in 10 people planned to sort out their pension.

Just under a tenth promised to take more exercise and 4% said they would cut down on alcohol.

Over the next few posts I'll be giving you some help to enable you to keep that commitment strong and make those New Year resolutions a reality. But first you might want to think about it properly beforehand:

Is this the right time for you?
If you're deciding to make a new start in your life, then you have to be 100% sure that the time is right for you. Just because January is the most obvious time to make resolutions, it doesn't mean that you'll stick to them. There's no point whatsoever making a resolution if you don't even think you'll make it through the first day. Be true to yourself. If you don't feel ready, spend a while longer getting your head around it. If you're serious about changing your life, why not consider a date that isn't so loaded with expectation - one which you can work towards on your own terms?

One of the ways you can determine if it's the right time to change is by using a method called Cartesian Logic:

Cartesian Logic
In order to ensure that this is definitely the right time for you to change, it's important that you examine this decision from every perspective. There are many parts of your life, for example family, work relationships,friends etc. This decision may have an effect on those parts so it's helpful to make sure that we don't gain from one area at the expense of another.

Find a pen and paper. Divide the paper into four sections and write down the following questions as headings:

What WILL happen if I do this?

What WON'T happen if you do this?

What WILL happen if I DON'T do this?

What WON'T happen if you DON'T do this?

Now answer these questions as honestly as you can. Review all that you've written and only if, having done the exercise, you are certain that your commitment remains strong should you consider the resolution.