Sticktoitiveness: Tips to get back on the resolution wagon

Inspired by the TOC staffers whose lofty 2009 goals I'd written about a couple weeks ago--run a half-marathon, wake up earlier, hit the gym regularly, read more books, etc.--I began my own (belated) New Year's resolution: Meditate for 10 minutes every day. Studies show meditation boosts productivity, lowers blood pressure, improves focus, relieves headaches and all sorts of other good stuff. But I just wanted to see if I could force myself to slow down for few minutes each day. After I went one for seven in the first week, I was pretty bummed with my inability to just, well, chill. So I reached back out to the expert I'd consulted for help making this habit stick. Josh Klapow, Ph.D., is an author, clinical psychologist and associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "Realize that meditation is a skill," Klapow says, "So reset your goals." Here's what he recommended for me-- the advice is pretty applicable no matter what your New Year's goal is:
1. Don't shoot for perfection. "You can't get better if you don't actually practice so don't shoot for perfection on the quality of the meditation," Klapow says. In other words, instead of beating myself up when my meditating mind wanders to my to-do list, what I'm making for dinner tonight, etc--I should accept that I'm doing the best I can with my 10 minutes of Zen.

2. Arrange for success. "Look at your calendar--what can you do to make it happen?" Klapow asks. "Get up 15 minutes earlier to start your day with meditation? Go to bed 15 minutes later to do it at the very end of the day?" Yep and yep. Or, possibly, I could force myself to leave my desk for 15 minutes around lunch time and pop into the bookstore across the street for a quiet 10 minutes to myself.

3. Back off the frequency. I wasn't expecting this advice, but Klapow says success isn't necessarily perfection. He suggests I aim for three days a week instead of seven as a goal. "Then add one day each week ," he says. That sounds a lot more manageable.

Klapow's parting words: "Remember--first carve the time, then increase the frequency, then the quality will happen automatically." So, not too hard, right? I'm feeling more Omm-y already.