New Year's Resolution Keys: Sustained Motivation & Support.

Once again, that time of year has come. We add an extra year to the calendar and quickly follow with thoughts of how we might make things different. Improve upon things. Find success in things. Make things more efficient. Rid ourselves of things so we can re-discover what things really matter to us. Find new things. Make sense of some things.

I recently read a couple of statistics about New Year's resolutions and I wanted to share them..

[1] 70% of people who make New Year's resolutions say that the hardest part is staying motivated.

[2] 60% of people who made resolutions said they needed more support to achieve them.

Nothing about these numbers is surprising, in fact, they make absolute sense. Motivation maintenance and the support that is undoubtedly required are, without question, the key reasons people generally only make it through the 'honeymoon' phase of a behavior change attempt. The thing to remember, is that this is natural. There's nothing to feel bad about, nothing to feel ashamed about, nothing to feel failure about. Again, because it's natural.

With anything worth achieving or having, motivation has to come from somewhere. And we're all different in where and how we find this motivation. If motivation were something you could just grab off the 'sale's shelf' at Starbuck's in addition to your coffee drink, well, Starbuck's would be doing even bigger business than they already are. Point being, sometimes we just have to work a little harder and a little smarter to find the right motivation before putting it to use. And sustaining that motivation oftentimes is directly related to the aforementioned 'right motivation'.

Ask anyone who's achieved their dreams and great things in life what it took and undoubtedly you'll hear: hard work, focus, perserverence, goals, a plan....but, under all of this, hidden behind the scenes...that's right, support. Can it be done without it? Not likely. Perhaps, yes...but not likely. We all need support. And the key is finding the right support.

With the right support and motivation in your corner, you cannot fail.

Happy New Year.

A cup of the good stuff (and several refills) may save your life.

Ok, just to be clear, I don't need a reason to indulge in a morning cup of the good stuff or the afternoon 'once you've tried it, you'll never go back-French Press' I've worked into my schedule now. No reason at all, it just comes naturally. And though I honestly don't feel pressure to defend this wonderful habit since more and more are jumping on board daily, it's always nice to have 'data' to back up said habit when necessary. If more nothing more, it just makes you feel better, in your own mind.

I've read before about scientific studies proving the cardiovascular value in drinking coffee and this is another good one. So enjoy that morning cup....that mid-morning cup...afternoon cup...and early evening cup...Do it for your heart. Yeah, now that sounds like a good enough reason, doesn't it?

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Buzz from Recent Research - Coffee Gets a Health Boost

In a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, scientists found that regular coffee consumption was not associated with an increased risk of death in either men or women; and this included those who regularly drank six cups of coffee or more a day. Furthermore, heavy coffee drinkers, particularly women, seemed to have a decreased risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD).

In the study, data was examined from 41,736 men who were tracked for 18 years as part of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and 86,214 women who were followed for 24 years as part of the Nurses’ Health Study. Participants completed diet questionnaires every two to four years, which included coffee consumption. As coffee consumption rose among more than 125,000 study participants, the risk of death decreased for both men and women. However, the results were most significant for women who drank four to five cups daily. They had up to a 26 percent reduced risk of death, particularly from CVD.

Source: Lopez-Garcia, E. “The Relationship of Coffee Consumption with Mortality”. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2008 June; 148(12):904-914.