The 2012 Resolution Remodel: Find the Right Place to Start for a Better New Year

While most resolutions are about weight, money or habits, aren’t they all about wellness? Don’t we all just want to feel better? Less stress, less pain, less disappointment? What if the way to feel better in 2012 isn’t about what you plan to do, but what you plan not to do?

It’s perhaps never more evident than at this time of year -- as our full calendars give way to empty bank accounts -- that we need a fresh start. The lack of wellness is often what fuels some of the vices our resolutions are aimed at. Often what we eat or buy is aimed at medicating stress or exhaustion. As you consider your desire to reign in eating or spending habits, consider making resolutions aimed at reducing the stress and exhaustion that are fueling those habits.

The top two top ways we sabotage our wellness are 1) over-commitment and 2) lack of sleep. Lack of sleep is wellness public-enemy #1. The latest research tells us that lack of sleep affects mood, appetite, aging, immunity, energy and more.  Sleep, not just rest, is essential to wellness. 

Over-commitment robs us of time for things that contribute to our wellness like exercise, meal preparation and time with our families. Instead, we spend that precious time on things that feed only our need to please, which is never satisfied or satisfying. When we are busy, we neither do things well, nor feel well. Passion and compassion can’t survive when we are busy. Busy sucks the life out of us.

While you contemplate how you want the make this new year better than the last, here's a starter for your resolution list.  Top wellness resolutions for 2012:

1. Reduce Over-Commitment:  Learn to say “No.”  Choose to say “No.”

There are many good things that you could be doing, that you shouldn’t be doing. It’s difficult enough to decide which activities are worth your time, but if you have kids, it becomes even more difficult to know when to say no. When asked to volunteer, participate or sign up your kids for an activity, have a “bad cop” lined up that you must check with before responding at a later time. My calendar and my husband serve as bad cops. Script and practice your answer ahead of time: “Gee that sounds great. I will check with (insert your bad cop here) and get back with you.”

2. Get More Sleep: Turn off the TV and go to bed.

It has never been easier, really.  DVR technology means never having to miss your favorite show.  Record your Tuesday night show that starts at 10 pm, and watch it two hours earlier every Wednesday night.

Just like our kids, our bodies receive signals from a going-to-bed routine that help it get to sleep.  Make your own routine and set a time to start, and a lights out deadline.  The deadline helps keep you from responding to the visual distractions of laundry, paperwork, or other things will take you off track from your sleep goal.

This year, we can turn over a new leaf in the pursuit of wellness, providing a solid starting place for the journey to weight-loss, financial well-being and breaking bad habits. Harness the momentum of the season and make some specific goals to increase wellness in your life.