Why is it so difficult to make resolutions stick? My list is almost always the same from year to year. When I look back over the past year, I don't drink more water, exercise more, eat better, etc. Not measurably so. I kind of hit and miss -- a lot. One of the biggest problems with failing again and again to make these changes is that I start to doubt my own resolve. Yeah, right... I've heard THAT one before! My self-respect droops. Maybe my list is too long, or maybe I'm approaching it in the wrong way. If I took just one item and set it in my schedule regularly until it was second nature, maybe I could forever scratch it off any future lists. But how are good habits formed and bad habits broken? Is there a way to truly change habitually for the better? Behavior modification? CBT? Hypnosis? I don't have an answer yet, at least not based on personal experience. I have hope, though, that change IS possible, and a sense of confidence in the malleability of my brain, thanks to recent research. I share a sampling of what I've found here:
