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Completing New Year’s Resolutions Successfully
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Jarrod Shapiro
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The year 2016 was a roller coaster ride with the presidential election, and it was emotionally taxing for just about everyone regardless of your political affiliation. For me, 2016 was a mostly uneventful year with a few major positives. My son started high school, my daughter began first grade, and I graduated my first two residents - these were the clear high points of the year. What 2017 will bring is anyone’s guess. Will the Affordable Care Act be abolished? Will it be modified in some way? Will the new government get rid of MACRA, meaningful use, and PQRS? Will physicians continue to enter increasingly large group practices?

I don’t know the answers to these questions, and I’m wholly inexpert on predicting what’s going to happen in 2017. Not that expertise seems to have mattered this past year. The pundits and talking heads in the media sure predicted the result of the election poorly! However, I’m not a pundit, so I’m going to stay away from trying to predict the future.

Instead, let’s talk about something a little closer to home, and, perhaps even a little useful: How to successfully complete your New Year’s resolutions.

It seems many of us make resolutions to change something about ourselves or our lives every year, and the fact that many of them are repeated the next year is testament to how difficult New Year’s resolutions are to complete. Perhaps the most common resolution is “I’m going to lose weight and exercise more.” However, this resolution is a perfect example of what NOT to do if one desires to actually succeed.

Recommendations to make your New Year’s Resolutions successful goals:

  1. Make your resolution as specific and concrete as possible – For example, instead of saying, “lose weight”, one might instead rephrase this as, “lose 35 pounds.” The more specific the goal, the better.  
  2. Give your resolution a specific time frame – “I’m going to lose 35 pounds in six months.” Without an end time, you will likely never actually accomplish the goal. Additionally, working under time constraints helps your motivation. 
  3. Make your resolution realistic and possible to complete – “I resolve to gain six inches in height.” At 44 years of age, this is not possible for me, so is not realistic. “I’m going to add 100 new patients per day into my practice” is neither realistic nor possible. It would be physically impossible for me to add 100 patients per day to my current clinical practice. Setting goals that might seem possible but are not is a clear set up for failure.  
  4. Consider your overarching goal and then break that goal up into manageable pieces – Every goal we have is made up of smaller mini-goals that are easier to complete. Let’s say my goal is to add 100 total patients per week into my current office schedule. This is a realistic goal for a podiatrist, but might be difficult to complete all at once. I might instead make the following resolution: add 10 patients per week over a 10 week period. It is easier to add a small number over a period of time than a large number all at once.
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  1. Make a specific plan – Large goals are great, but in reality they are composed of multiple smaller and simpler steps that need to be outlined in a sequential manner to complete. For example, if my goal is to “lose weight”, that’s a very broad goal that will require very specific actions to complete such as setting up a diet and exercise plan. 
  2. Build a schedule into your plan – Every step of your plan should be scheduled so you know when to begin and when the end should occur. Stick religiously to the schedule. 
  3. Institute rewards – Multiple small successes makes it easier to persevere all the way through to goal completion, and having a little reward here and there helps keep us motivated. 
  4. Review your progress at predetermined intervals – Taking a step back to evaluate where you are and then making course corrections is very helpful to maintaining sight of the goal. It also helps us to honestly know if we have stuck with our plan to reach the goal.

Finally, celebrate when you reach your goal and then make a new one. Take that pleasant moment to enjoy your success in reaching your resolution. It feels good to accomplish what you set out to do. Reward yourself in whatever way is appropriate. Then move on and make a new goal or resolution. Imagine what you can accomplish once you’ve applied these steps to your resolutions! Happy New Year 2017.

Best wishes!
Jarrod Shapiro Signature
Jarrod Shapiro, DPM
PRESENT Practice Perfect Editor
[email protected]
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