Posted on: January 28, 2014
by Marshall Communications President Charlene Williams
As we near the end of January, many of us have already determined that the New Year’s resolution we made with the best intentions less than a month ago is nothing more than a nagging reminder of something we know we should be doing for ourselves.
According to statisticbrain.com, the top three New Year’s resolutions for 2014 (source: University of Scranton, Journal of Clinical Psychology) are:
- Lose weight
- Get organized
- Spend less, save more
The research goes on to report that 45 percent of Americans usually make New Year’s resolutions, but sadly, only 8 percent are successful in achieving their resolution.
While 8 percent is pretty meager, I have to wonder if that percentage is actually an increase over past years due to newer technology and social media platforms that offer up the latest in self-help techniques right at our finger tips. It seems that keeping resolutions should be much easier. Let’s take each of the top three resolutions for 2014 separately:
#1 – Lose weight
No surprise here. This is a big one. Just Google “weight loss” and you could read for the next six months about the tips, tricks, and lifestyle changes that will result in a new you. Just be sure to do your reading on your hand-held device while on your stationary bike. Take my personal advice and do not watch the Food Network while on your stationary bike. The conflict is too great.
You can even join and participate in Weight Watchers without ever attending a meeting. Just download their app, enter your credit card number and you’re ready to roll…hopefully, not literally.
And, don’t forget Pinterest. You can find just about any low fat, low carb, low cholesterol, low calorie recipe you could ever imagine. And, how about those pins of the cute little outfits appropriate for super models? They do wonders to guilt you into not eating.
Lastly, you can download the free My Fitness Pal app to your mobile device. You will be able to enter your food intake and log your activity. This only works if you’re completely honest. Food you eat while you are preparing the food you track does count. Sorry.
#2 – Getting organized
I must admit, I had no idea there was a magazine called Getting Organized available online. One of the featured articles in the current issue is 12 Things to Simplify Your Workday. I stopped reading when I got to number 2 – check it out.
If the online magazine isn’t enough, wikiHow has a five-part series on how to be organized. After Part 5, you’ll even find a list of warnings – don’t worry, nothing like horrible side effects from taking prescription medication. Just benign warnings like, “Don’t expect to get organized overnight unless you’re really fast at it, or it’s a small area.” Thank goodness! In addition to the warnings, there is a Things You’ll Need section with the second bullet being “Patience” – which leads right into other resolutions that are even harder to achieve.
It would not be fair to Pinterest if I didn’t give them props for this one, too. You can find a plethora of ideas on organizing your home, office and life in general. Have you ever seen so many neatly arranged closets in your life? The best part is, you can have those same organized spaces by using either old bureaus, left over wrapping paper rolls, or used pallets. Oh, yeah…we’ll have to be sure to organize all the left over and old stuff we’ll need to renovate our storage spaces to look as good as those on Pinterest.
#3 – Spend less, save more
First, let’s cover “spend less” by starting with comparison shopping. You can shop online for just about anything by doing a quick Google search for your item of choice. The popular shopping sites are abundant, including Amazon, Overstock, Etsy, eBay, and the endless number of stores, shops and manufacturers that have online shopping carts. Of course, this can work against you, if you let it. The temptation is great when Amazon seems to know what you want even before you do. Seriously, their newest plan for “anticipatory shipping” is a system that predicts your future purchases.
To help us spend less and save more, coupons have made an online splash in a big way. Not only can you download savings in the form of various coupons from coupon, store and manufacturer sites, (check out SmartSource when you have a chance, maybe while on the stationary bike mentioned in #1) you can also get tips on extreme couponing from the Krazy Coupon Lady or Coupon Mom. I think I should add my own warning on this section, just like wikiHow did for getting organized…if you happen to find yourself in line at the grocery store behind someone who has taken this coupon advice, please see “The Things You’ll Need” section in #2 above.
With all the online help today, there are no excuses. This is your chance to help boost that 8 percent success rate. Get in front of the screen, boot up and get started.
