I confess that in January’s gone past, I have purchased Special K because of the advert, signed up to weight watchers because of the marketing campaign and even joined a gym so I too could have a six pack.
No matter which channel I switch to at the moment, I am constantly faced with either an advert for weight watchers or a documentary about clinically obese individuals having bypass surgery. What is the message here? I wonder how many people would watch both, dismiss the “healthier route” and opt for a more invasive quicker option.
What is the connection between January and the need to enforce life change decisions? According to Wiki (always a good place to start the research), resolutions were originally linked to religious practices. Evolving as we do, many of us seem to have swept aside the need to give up all worldly possessions, have forgotten to ‘re-affirm our commitment to chivalry’, but instead make way for resolutions that we find difficult to keep.
Perhaps we need to consider the wording we give our resolutions. The resolutions we make tend to relate to the final outcome. For example, instead of saying ‘I want to lose 3 stone’, I should say if I focus on Project Fat Buster (my blog 4 January 2012), I will be 3 stone lighter.
The media plays an interesting part in manipulating our thinking and I would even be bold enough to say, that depending on our own disposition, what we see on the TV or read in the papers could have a negative or positive impact on our success.
Just to throw another notion out there, why even bother making resolutions? Why not live the life style you perceive to be the “right” life style, all the time? Even if you have a bad day or patch, with effort, you can get back on track. Consider how deflated we feel when we break the resolution we made just days ago. I suppose, not making one would be a sure way of never disappointing yourself.
