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Make Those New Year’s Resolutions Stick 

Resolve means to firmly decide. Just how firmly have you decided on your New Year’s resolutions? Whether you want to lose weight, stop smoking, further your career or improve your relationships, the first step is to decide what you want and how to get there. 

Choose a meaningful, well thought out goal and be specific. Then break the ultimate goal into smaller steps. Instead of eliminating cigarettes, cut down gradually, or replace one sugary treat a day with a piece of fruit. If your plan is to complete your education, start by researching the requirements. Also, develop problem-solving strategies for setbacks to reaching your goal ahead of time.  

Focus on the positive. Praise yourself for the five pounds you lost, not the one pound you gained back. Keep in mind the way you listened to your child tell you about his day at school and don’t kick yourself when you had to work late to finish that report. Be persistent and keep trying. Reward yourself along the way. For each 10 pounds you lose, treat yourself to a massage or another non-food treat you enjoy. Keep track of your progress. It will help keep you focused and show you how far you have come on the way to meeting your goal. 

Remember, you have the power to change. It’s just a matter of making different choices. 

Telecommunications Re-Create Community

According to experts with the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC), 21st century telecommunications technology has improved the human condition because it has allowed us to gossip more. Apparently, gossip is not a trivial pastime but an essential behaviour for all primates, including humans. The practice stimulates the production of endorphins, relieves stress and boosts our immune systems.

Since mobile phones facilitate gossip by allowing us to talk anywhere, anytime (and to text as well as talk), researchers have concluded that mobile phones are therapeutic and help us re-create more natural and humane communication patterns not seen since preindustrial times. In an often-fragmented world, the technology restores our sense of community and connection by allowing us to create tightly integrated social networks. These small, stable, virtual communities are an antidote to the stress and alienation of modern-day life.

In studying how we use mobile phone technology, SIRC researchers have come to a number of other surprising conclusions. For example, men gossip at least as much on their mobile phones as women do. Thirty-three percent of men gossip almost every day, as compared with 26 percent of women. Men tend to gossip more about themselves. There are also differences in with whom men and women gossip: men tend to gossip more with colleagues, partners and female friends, whereas women gossip more with same-sex friends and family.
 

– Adapted from SIRC.org