Steps to New Year's Resolution Success - WSJ.com

Steps to New Year's Resolution Success - WSJ.com:

"Dr. Shiv recommends a carrot-and-stick approach to a resolution: Focus most of the time on the emotional rewards you will reap for changing your behavior. If you want to lose weight, visualize yourself feeling the benefits, thinking, 'If I work hard, I will look so good, and feel so good,' he says. As a stick to help you get started on your new habits, evoke the emotional consequences of failing to change. 'Visualize yourself feeling fat, and think, 'If I don't work out, I will look like a heavy thing,' ' and be less satisfied with yourself and your social life. Over time, your resolution 'is going to get tagged with those emotions,' which will kick in automatically even when the cognitive parts of your brain are worn out, he says."