First, the good news. Edmonton psychologist Dr. Ganz Ferrance says January 1 is a good day to take stock of your life and resolve to make changes for the better. “New Year’s is a great time because there is a natural start to something new.” That said, Ferrance cautions against getting too hung up on particular dates. In terms of the best time to make decisions that will make your life better, “every day is a new year.”

So what happens if your previous experience with new year’s resolutions exhausts more than it inspires? To paraphrase rocker Terence Trent D’Arby: you may be trying to do the right thing, the wrong way. To break that pattern, without abandoning your resolution or carrying the angst of it going unfulfilled, Ferrance suggests you zero in on what you want to accomplish, and then put a plan in place to make it happen.  “And don’t be afraid to invest in yourself,” notes Ferrance, who recommends your plan for success include professional help, regardless of whether your goals involve quitting smoking, losing weight, getting fit, becoming more organized, or taking control of your finances.

The lack of a workable plan probably tops the list of reasons why fitness industry stats show 75 per cent of people new to exercise drop out in the first six months, says Tye Babb, owner of Target Your Energy Personal Fitness and Development, which supplies personal training to YMCA Edmonton. When he first asks people about their fitness motivation, most people offer a generic, “I want to feel better and lose weight” response. To help them figure out what will help them stay the course, Babb’s free initial consult walks people through their options so they can decide whether they’d benefit most from one-on-one training, a fitness class or a new set of running shoes and a map of city pathways.

Having a plan doesn’t preclude flexibility. When Jim Hope started cycling in 2002, he laid out a four-year plan to cycle from Calgary to San Francisco. Hope met that goal, but about a year into his cycling habit, he also gave up smoking and fell in love with running. These days, the general manager of Calgary’s Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club plans his week around his running partners.  Wednesdays and Saturdays, he hits the trails with a long-time friend. Sundays, he runs with two friends he met through his youngest daughter’s AA ringette team.  When that team leaves town for tournaments, Hope packs his runners and discovers new trails in cities like Laval, Regina, Saskatoon, Ottawa and Edmonton.

“Nine of 13 families on this year’s team have at least one adult runner,” says Hope, who combines running with his other favourite pastime: getting to know people.

Lindy Kennedy is a dietician who’s also big on “the plan.” Working for Preventous Collaborative Health and her own company, FitNut Consulting, both in Calgary, Kennedy helps her clients set specific goals they can focus on over a two-to-three-week period. The first goal could involve increasing your water intake. After that, a client could add a balanced breakfast, then learn to replace unhealthy snacks with nutritionally-dense options. This approach packs a cumulative punch for better health, since incremental changes make major lifestyle modifications easy instead of onerous, says Kennedy.

To help you stick with your goals, Ferrance encourages people to visualize and journal (at least twice a week if not daily) about what your life will be like after you accomplish your resolution: Picture yourself 20 pounds lighter. Imagine increased energy levels once you quit smoking or boost your fitness level.

He also cautions against thinking success is an all-or-nothing proposition, since it’s not uncommon to need several ‘starts’ before you succeed. “ It’s very difficult to be successful if one day you’re eating fast food and the next day you’re eating organic.” To aid with motivation, Ferrance recommends celebrating every step in the right direction. Allow yourself to be pleased by the fact you ate fast food three times this week instead of five, or give yourself a pat on the back for putting your keys back in the place you organized for them.

A workable plan should also include a supportive environment. “The more serious you are about it, the more people you want to enlist in helping you reach your goal,” notes Ferrance. By the same token, recognize when family or friends aren’t supportive and be realistic about the temptations you can handle, says Kennedy. That may mean significant changes to what goes into your grocery cart, but if your nutrition plan doesn’t include pop and potato chips, they likely have no business in your pantry.
In the end, Ferrance, Kennedy and Babb insist there’s only one good answer to questions about what you should do if you fall off the “new you wagon”—get back on. It’s not uncommon to have to start to make a significant lifestyle change several times, says Ferrance. In the words of an American quit-smoking website: “Failing is not failure, it’s practice.”