An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Approach to New Year's Resolutions

by Annabelle Parr

As we enter another new year, many of us have set our 2017 resolutions. Maybe you make resolutions, maybe not, but either way this is generally a time of reflection. In what ways do we hope this year will be different from last? What are we hoping to change in our lives? What goals do we have going forward?

 The new year always seems to be a good time to think about making some changes because it gives us the chance to start fresh in some ways. But in other ways it is simply just another day. Nothing changed automatically on January first. What can change is our perspective, and it is our job to ensure that our actions follow. This is the tough part. Do you find yourself already struggling to maintain your resolution? Do you wonder why we have such a hard time keeping our resolutions for more than a few weeks? How do we make our resolutions stick?

The truth is, change is often slow. Occasionally we are able to make huge changes immediately, but more often than not change takes time. New year's resolutions often fail to take into account that it may actually take you all year to create the change you were hoping to see on January second. When we fail to recognize all the small steps on the road toward change, we set ourselves up for disappointment and failure. A new year's resolution sounds like an easy solution: set a major goal for the new year ahead. But our resolutions are empty unless they are backed by action, and creating a resolution doesn't necessarily help us to make an action plan.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers some ideas and tools that can be very helpful in guiding us along the process of change. Whether you come in to see a therapist for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or whether you apply the wisdom it can offer to your life on your own, this model can help us to keep our resolutions all year long.

ACT aims to increase psychological flexibility, which means that you are able to connect to the present moment consciously and choose to behave in a manner as consistent with your values as the situation allows. Part of the purpose behind ACT is to get in touch with your personal values (not those determined for you by society, family, friends, or any other external source), and then use these values to guide your actions and formulate specific goals. This is usually what we are aiming for with our new year's resolutions.

For example, if my resolution is that I want to eat healthier, a good place to start is to examine my values. Do I feel like I "should" eat healthier because I feel pressured by our health conscious culture or by my friends, family or partner? Or do I want to eat healthier because I value my physical health, deep in my heart? Or perhaps I value my role as a model to my children, and want to eat healthier for this reason. Once I determine my values and make sure that my resolution is driven by my own intrinsic motivation, then I can create a concrete plan of action to move forward.

The Choice Point Model, another helpful ACT tool, offers us a framework to use when we face a decision. A choice point is a moment in time where we can choose to act in a manner that is either consistent or inconsistent with our values. The Choice Point is about identifying the hundreds of moments in a day where we can be on autopilot and be driven by thoughts and feelings, or we can make a conscious, deliberate choice that is in the service of our values. When in this moment, we can use the acronym STOP:

S: Slow down. Take 3 mindful breaths.

T: Take notice. What are you thinking and feeling?

O: Open up. Make room for those thoughts and feelings instead of trying to avoid the discomfort.

P: Pursue values. Do what matters to you.

Sometimes, in a Choice Point, we will choose to avoid or procrastinate acting in a values consistent manner, and that is okay. Give yourself grace when this happens. But remember that though avoidance may provide relief for the moment, in the long run it will make us feel worse. So if we can STOP and choose to act in accordance with our values as frequently as possible, it will serve us.

As you approach this new year and begin thinking about your potential resolutions, remember that big change happens slowly, choice point by choice point. Remember to consider your values, and to STOP when you hit a choice point. If you feel you need some extra support along the road to change or healing...

CSAM IS HERE TO HELP

If you or someone you love might benefit from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or biofeedback for anxiety, depression, stress, or PTSD, or if you would like more information about our therapy services, please contact us at (858) 354-4077 or at csamsandiego@gmail.com.

How to Form Healthy, Anxiety-Free New Year's Resolutions

by Anna Remus 

As 2012 beings to come to a close, friends and coworkers will no doubt begin to talk about their New Year's resolutions--often with negative, despairing attitudes. It is unfortunate that this time of year, meant to be an invigorating, fresh start, often turns into a dreaded ritual.

The problem with New Year's resolutions is that we often fall into the same bad habits when forming them--we form an unrealistic number of them, we spend all enthusiasm for our goals too quickly, or we try to go "cold turkey" and change ourselves in unrealistic ways, completely overnight. 

In order to achieve your goals for the new year, it's important to stop thinking of resolutions as a 100-yard dash, and start thinking of them like a marathon. If you start "sprinting" for the first month or so, it's difficult to achieve the long-term results you're after. Instead, it's important to make small, sustainable changes that will form habits quickly and lead to greater progess in the long run. Although it does take longer to see results this way, it is also less likely that one small misstep causes you to panic and lose all of your hard work!

In order to get the fresh start you need for healthy changes, here are some tips to keep in mind when January 1st rolls around:

• Break the attitude cycle

There are a lot of negative attitudes surrounding the idea of New Year's resolutions, and listening to all of this negativity can hurt your efforts. Before you begin forming your resolutions, actively try to keep a positive attitude, and keep faith that you can achieve the goals you'll set for yourself.  

• Be specific and realistic

 When forming your resolutions, try to be as specific as possible to avoid biting off more than you can chew. If you would like to exercise more, try to think of specific times/days that would work with your schedule, or write down new classes at your gym that you've been meaning to try. Thinking of a specific plan of attack can make daunting goals seem much more manageable. 

• Work on one at a time

Don't write a huge laundry list of resolutions, but instead keep it very short (under 5), and stick to one at a time for a shorter period (for example, 2 months). Whittle your list down to only the very top things you would like to improve, then order them by importance, and form your scheduling of them in December, rather than New Years Day. Planning ahead will help you not become overwhelmed, and dividing the work load over several months will keep a healthy pace for your progress.   

• Ease into it gradually

Instead of taking your "Lose 15 pounds" resolution cold turkey, consider spreading smaller goals over a period of weeks or months. For example, if you need to change your diet for your goal of getting healthier, start by eliminating fast food in Week 1, then also eliminating alcohol in Week 2, etc. Stacking smaller goals makes the transition easier, and leaves you less likely to feel deprived. 

• Piggyback

One way to make habit-changing easier is to "piggyback" desired habits with existing habits. For example, if your new goal is to take a vitamin everyday, stick your bottle of them in your coffee cup for the next morning, so when you are getting ready to drink your morning java, you won't forget your goal. Using already-formed habits is a great way to easily adapt new ones!

Whatever your New Years resolutions, we here at CSAM San Diego wish you the best! Have a great holiday season and a happy, healthy new year! 

Tags: resolutions, new years resolutions, new years, new years eve