From Resolution to Reality: Making it Happen in 2009

Making resolutions is a popular phenomena, yet a majority of them are never kept. For one reason or another, people fall off the wagon, and they never achieve the goals they wish to achieve. For those of you who are hoping to make 2009 the year you quit smoking, or the year you lost 20 pounds, here's some advice to get you started.

Step 1: find someone to help. More likely than not, you are not reliable to make the behavior change alone. If you were, you would have probably made that change a long time ago. Find a trusted friend or coworker to help you succeed; this person needs to be just as motivated as you are, and if you should ever cheat or fail, this person needs to be able to give you an earful in order to prevent you from sliding down the wrong path.

Step 2: specify the performance objectives. You need to be as specific as possible when you are managing behavior. "I want to work out on the treadmill 30 minutes a day/5x a week" is much more specific than "I need to get to the gym and lose weight."

Step 3: develop a concequence for failing to meet your performance objective. What will happen if you continue to smoke? What will happen if you don't make it to the gym? This consequence needs to be both sizeable and probable, but not so sizeable and probable that you are likely to cheat.

Step 4: put it in writing. Make a performance contract that describes the desired/undesired behavior, the occasion in which the behavior should or should not occur, and the added outcome for that behavior. Both you and your performance manager need to sign this.

Step 5: implement and take data accordingly. Graph your progress.

Step 6: you should meet with your performance manager at least 1 time a week to discuss your progress, and you should be willing/open to make changes if necessary. If you are not meeting your goal, your intervention is not as good as it needs to be. Revise your intervention, not your "attitude" or "commitment", because a good intervention will involve commitment and a positive attitude towards behavior change.

With practice and patience, you can make 2009 the year you did what you've always wanted to do.