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IN THIS ISSUE
Making Successful New Year's Resolutions
StressBuster Tip: Making Values-Based Resolutions
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Hello,

I am Dr. Richard Blonna, the editor of the Healthy Stress Newsletter. I am a nationally certified Coach (CPC), Counselor (NCC), and Health Education Specialist (CHES) with over 25 years of experience helping people just like you manage their stress.
I am the author of a best-selling college textbook and two self-help books in the field of stress management.
Besides teaching stress management in college I work with people at-a-distance using telephone and web-based instruction and coaching. 
In addition to stress management I specialize in motivational coaching; helping people get unstuck and live their lives based on their values, goals, and dreams.
What's New?
My new book, Stress Less, Live More: How Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can Help You Live a Busy, Yet Balanced Life is available from New Harbinger Publications. Look for it at your favorite bookstore or order a copy online directly from the publisher.
www.newharbinger.com




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Volume # 2010, Issue # 11 

Dear Subscriber, 

As the year comes to an end and I finish another chapter in my life and this newsletter I'd like to thank you all for your support. I am looking forward to an exciting 2011 filled with new and exciting work.

This year will be marked by the release of my new book, Maximize Your Coaching effectiveness with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2011) New Harbinger Press. The book will demonstrate how to apply ACT principles and practices to enhancing personal performance.

I look forward to sharing information and tips from it with you.

Have a Happy New Year.

Dr. Richard Blonna
Making Successful New Year's Resolutions

 

The work "resolution" is derived from the root "resolve" and means to solve by changing, converting, or dissipating. In the case of New Year's Resolutions what we are trying to change, convert, or dissipate  are bad habits or unhelpful behaviors. When you make a resolution to "start exercising" for example you are also saying to yourself, "I want to stop being so sedentary."

Another way to look at resolutions is to view them as goals. Wanting to start exercising on a regular basis is a goal that can be broken down into specific action steps, also known as measurable objectives. Viewing New Year's Resolutions as goals that are capable of being measured through discrete action steps is a way to frame them that makes them more attainable.

The biggest problem I've seen regarding New Year's Resolutions is basing them on guilt or what other people think you should resolve to do. Resolutions that are based on what other people value are doomed to fail. I often see this in relationships where people make resolutions to please their partners  rather than themselves.

To counter this I suggest you make New Year's Resolutions based on what you value. Values-based New Year's Resolutions chart the course for the coming year based on the direction you want to take. When you start to plan a course of action based on your values and the direction you want to move in you are on the way to developing high-level mental wellbeing. When you make New Year's Resolutions to please others you set yourself up for a miserable year filled with doubt, guilt, and stress.   

This year, why not start it by resolving to either change something about your life that is not helping you reach your ultimate goals or to enhance some aspect of your life that is working and that you want to make even better. You don't have to make resolutions about problem areas and the things in your life that are not working. You can also resolve to keep doing something that you are already doing well and just bring it up a notch.  

Whatever your resolutions, start with clarifying what you value and go from there. Start 2011 off on positive note by setting values-based new Year's resolutions.

StressBuster Tip: Making Values-Based New Year's Resolutions
 

1. Use the values-clarification exercise presented in StressBuster Tip # 12 in the Volume 2010, issue # 9 of this newsletter.  Go to the archived newsletters on my webpage:

www.healthystressdoctor.com to retrieve it:

2. Pick one of the values identified in the activity that you'd like to resolve.

3. Set a reasonable goal for this value.

Example:

Value identified - outdoor activities such as hiking and camping

4. Develop three measurable objectives for 2011 related to this goal. Remember, measurable objectives answer the question ; "who will do how much of what by when?"

 Example:

a. "By the end of March I will have taken three short hikes or snowshoe walks in the woods."

b. "By the end of August I will have taken three hikes in areas that have proximity to water."

c. "By the end of the November I will have explored at least one new area I've never hiked in prior to this year."

 

5.  Tell yourself the following ACT-based statement: " I am willing to sacrifice ..... (fill in the blank ) in the service of this value...... (fill in the value).

Example:

"I am willing to sacrifice some opportunities to work overtime or spend time with my friends and family to spend more time outdoors hiking this year."

6. Accept that you might be pressured by your employer, family, or  friends to defer your values-based plans to meet their needs or wants and that this might trigger an emotional response such as feeling guilty, angry etc. You can co-exist with this emotional distress and continue to move forward on your New Year's Resolution to spend more time outdoors doing what you value.

Good luck with your New Year's resolutions for 2011!!
For more information about my stress management related products and services go to my website:
 
 
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Sincerely,
 
Dr.Richard Blonna