Every year is the same old thing. You look in the mirror and think up at least 100 things that you want to change about yourself. Now the only thing you have to do is think of just one that you know you can accomplish.

The time to make your New Year’s resolution is here and if you haven’t though up what you want to do yet then you might just have some extra stress placed upon you.

“One main stress of the holidays is making your mind up on what you want to do for a New Year’s resolution,” said Donna Marsh, outpatient coordinator at the Chilton-Shelby Mental Health Center. “There is a solution to making your holiday a little less stress as well as to help you keep your resolution after you set it.”

Marsh said the main goal in keeping a resolution is to make one that you can follow up with. If you make a resolution to stop smoking then make sure you have enough support and steps to take to complete the resolution.

“Some things are hard to do, like quitting something. If your goal is to stop smoking or to stop drinking then first off you have to know that you can’t do it properly without having someone there with you to help complete the process,” Marsh said.

Like raising a child you have to take small steps to accomplish a goal. Some people set out to lose 100 pounds by the end of the year. They wont be able to do that though if they don’t pace themselves and make small goals to reach all along the way.

“One thing you can do is break up your resolution to make smaller steps that you can reach quicker. That way you are constantly feeling the accomplishment of completing your task yet you are working toward your main goal,” Marsh said.

– Ashley McCartney can be reached at ashley.mccartney@clantonadvertiser.com