New Year’s resolutions and how to achieve them

On Facebook, there are people campaigning “Dry January,” which is a health campaign urging people to abstain from alcohol for the month of January. Where this idea came from is unknown, but it was “Alcohol Concern,” an alcohol prevention organization in England, which developed the idea into an official campaign. In 2011, Emily Robinson, a member of the organization, started the campaign, getting the idea from her experience of quitting drinking “for the month of January” to prepare for the half marathon she was to participate.

If you are interested in keeping good health, you might want to read a New York Times article “The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles,” which is the most read article in the health section during last year. As we get old, our limbs get leaner and lose muscles. According to the article, “interval training,” which refers to an exercise characterized by five-minutes of hard work followed by five-minutes of rest, is the most effective exercise in delaying aging. Interval trainers showed better results than weight lifters or people who exercised moderately in terms of genetic activity. What is noteworthy is interval training was much more effective in “correcting” aging cells of older subjects than those of younger subjects.

Quitting alcohol and exercising are most popular New Year’s resolutions along with losing weight and quitting smoking. What they have in common is they are all related to keeping good health. Recently, losing weight and exercising have topped the list of New Year’s resolutions, overtaking quitting smoking and drinking. According to a survey conducted by JobKorea, 61 percent of workers chose losing weight and 32 percent chose exercising as the most popular New Year’s resolutions. What is interesting is, as much as 77 percent of the respondents said the resolutions are only good for “three months,” and 27 percent said they are only good for less than a month.

“People tend to value present pleasures over future gratifications,” said David DeSteno, professor of psychology at Northeastern University as to why the New Year’s resolutions do not last long. He said trying to refrain from something can be stressful. So as a way to relieve the stress, he suggested developing “feelings” such as appreciation, sympathy and pride. The tips for achieving your New Year’s resolutions are be thankful for what you have, help the unprivileged, and take pride in whatever you have accomplished. Quite simple, aren’t they?