It would be interesting to know what percentage of New Year’s Resolutions actually change long term behavior. Here’s one that I know doesn’t work: Regular exercise. If you haven’t been doing it in the past, deciding on January 1st that this time it’s really going to be a three-times a week priority is doomed.
On this New Year’s Day, the parking lot at a local athletic club was as packed as Valley View on Black Friday. I can guarantee that on March 1st, there will be no queuing up for equipment; the faithful who have been at this for years will be there but the masses who were filled with good intentions will have fallen, sometimes literally, by the wayside. Every year, the same pattern repeats itself . . . I speak from experience.
Deciding to make a radical commitment to an idea is a lot harder to do than making a list of things on January first. Much more likely success will follow when there has been some life-altering experience that even the dullest realize is an important warning.
A heart attack gets one’s attention brought on by a brush with death but more often than not in a remarkably short time the risk factors that brought about the problem are again being ignored. Obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, lack of exercise, and abnormal blood lipids are the main problems over which we have some control. I would encourage resolutions to work on those problems before your heart attacks you.
The beginning of the New Year is a good time to make an inventory of things less tangible than the obvious. To recognize the forms of behavior that are adding stress to daily living takes significantly more introspection.
One of the most insidious is time pressure. A common complaint is that we don’t have time to answer all the demands that are made upon us. In the work place, that may truly be the case; the tasks are real and there is a finite amount of time in which they must be completed. That’s what vacations are for; you are removed from that stress but we then crowd into that leisure time a frenzy of activity that sometimes makes getting back to the regimentation of work seem welcome.
A byproduct of this need to accomplish more in less time is a sense of dissatisfaction which dulls perception of what’s really important. In recent decades there has been a movement to help us avoid that trap. It goes by many names but the one that appeals to me the most is mindfulness. Somehow that seems a little less daunting than meditation which seems to imply something more mystical. Mindfulness is just being aware of what’s going on around us rather than constantly being pushed to get on to the next task.
Jon Kabat-Zinn recognized this decades ago. If you think he’s a guru who probably never had a life in the real world, you could not be further from the truth. He has a Ph.D. in molecular biology from M.I.T but he has made perhaps his greatest contribution with the introduction of mindfulness in the curricula of medical schools. There are numerous DVDs of his work; he has been featured on a series by Bill Moyers which, although produced decades ago, is well worth watching. Kabat-Zinn has recently published a revised version of a 1989 book entitled Full Catastrophe Living. It may change your life!
To find out how helpful this can be, here’s a resolution that will be easier to keep than trying to lose those extra pounds: Devote a special time each day to the practice of mindfulness. There are numerous guides on how to do this and without some direction, it’s not likely to be effective.
Here are the beginning steps. Choose an instructional aid. Pick out a time you can do this at least five days a week and stick to it. Follow the practice for three months and see if it has had a positive effect on your sense of well-being. If you can’t find time to do this, then one of two things is true: Time pressure controls your life or you don’t really see the need to change. In either case, that’s not good news.
January 1, 2016, if you have really given it a try, I suspect will be surprised how much you have changed. Good luck for the New Year.
– Hayden Hollingsworth
