New Year's Resolution for the Whole Family

Another year, another New Year’s resolution—and Boys Town Pediatrics has a plan to help you and your family reach your goal.

This year, instead of having a different goal for each family member, try coming up with a family resolution. Maybe your goal is to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier meals or even eat meals as a family. All goals are attainable with realistic planning and the right motivation.

• Make it Attainable. This is a great teaching moment for parents and a way to encourage positive behavior. Make sure that your child has the right resources in place to reach the goal. For example, open a savings account where he or she can contribute allowance money.
• Be Specific. Set a precise goal, such as helping a local charity with a specific event. You will be more likely to complete your resolution if you have a specific set of goals that allow you to monitor everyone’s progress.
• Develop a Timeline. New Year’s resolutions are not overnight goals, so don’t get frustrated if you don’t achieve success after two weeks. These goals are supposed to be year-long. Make check-points along the way to keep your family on track.
• Be Accountable. If you create a family goal, make sure each member understands the specific tasks that are assigned to him or her. Create a weekly or monthly chart where members can see their goals and can check off or star when the task has been completed. Hold a family meeting once a month to keep everyone on track.
• Make it Fun! Everyone is going to have to make a few sacrifices to achieve the goal, but doing this together can be a lot of fun. Have movie night at home instead of spending money at the theater. Plan a monthly dinner menu together and assign cooking duties. By being creative and making a game out of a chore or task, you may be adding in the extra motivation needed to keep your family on track.
• Make it Rewarding. When you have reached your goal, make a big deal about it and celebrate! You will be teaching your child that positive behavior and determination pays off in the end.

We hope you find these tips helpful in planning, keeping and reaching your family New Year’s resolution. Best of luck and have a happy New Year!

• Transcript

  ​

  New Year’s Resolutions

  Carrie Hoarty, M.D.
  Internal Medicine

  
   

  The New Year is a great time to recommit yourself to health.

  It's a good time to celebrate all the accomplishments of your past but also to commit to health for the future. We encourage people to think about what aspects off their life they want to improve whether it be exercise, sleep, the way they eat, spirituality, interactions with friends and commitment to different communities, but to really commit to bettering themselves.

  How do I commit to exercise?

  You have to find an exercise that you enjoy and then set a realistic number of minutes that you're going do it on a realistic number of days, so 20 to 30 minutes most days of the week. So that would be four to five days a week doing something you enjoy. I would encourage both cardiovascular and resistive exercises. That's the best way to get in shape, improve cardiovascular endurance and have body fitness. But you have to do something you enjoy or else you will quit.

  Why is getting more sleep a good resolution?

  Sleep impacts your overall health, your mood, your ability to cope with everyday life stressors. If you don't have a good night's sleep most of the things that come at you during the day are really going to stress you out or you'll just be so fatigued it'll be difficult to accomplish tasks.

  How can I avoid letting my resolutions fizzle?

  I think people fizzle on their new year's resolution because they fail a few days and I would tell them that every day the sun is going to come up, it's going to be a brand new day. Start over, re-resolve every day to commit to your resolution.