By Debra Staton, Wellness Coordinator for the Arkansas Health Network

Let’s strive to always be “pro-active not in-active” is a phrase I refer to in all aspects of wellness. I coined this phrase after making behavioral changes in my own life. You must be pro-active towards making changes, because if you are in-active, this means you are staying in the same place.

Did you make a New Year’s resolution?

According to Merriam-Webster, the word resolution is defined as a promise to do something differently in the New Year. To take this a little deeper, the word promise is defined as a declaration that one will do or refrain from doing something specified.So, if we want to do something differently in the New Year, obviously we want to make a change and that is a good thing; however, this can be difficult at the same time. We know in order to make any sort of behavioral change, it must take a certain amount of self-control, which can be somewhat stressful. With that said, maybe this is the reason so many people cannot keep their resolutions.

What if there was a 1-800-Resolution Help Desk? Hmmm, that is interesting! Okay, maybe the conversation would go something like this…

• Resolution Specialist “Sorry to keep you holding...may I help you?

• Customer – “Yes, I need to return my New Year’s Resolution.”

• Resolution Specialist - “Ma’am, we don’t accept returns on resolutions, but we are more than happy to offer healthy tips. What makes you want to return your resolution?”

• Customer – “Oh, I want to return it because it’s just not working for me. I don’t want it anymore, and it’s actually making me more stressed since I made my resolution.”

Does this conversation sound like it could really happen? Absolutely it does! We put a lot on ourselves trying to attain certain things; however, it is not always an easy task. We are often hard on ourselves and think we have failed, rather looking at it as a learning experience. 

Ask yourself the following questions and write down your thoughts. 

The act of writing your goals down can help you stay focused on what you are trying to achieve.

• Why you wanted to make a change?
• Was your change attainable?
• What was your goal?
• Were you specific?

Remember, Pro-active not In-active!