Keep Your New Year's Resolutions With Help From the Internet

By Elizabeth Wasserman

At the stroke of midnight this New Year’s Eve, did you make a resolution to start anew? Did you pledge to lose weight, promise to stop smoking or vow to save more money? And honestly, did you break all those pledges, promises and vows within a week?

Well, this year you don't have to feel guilty about breaking your New Year's resolutions -- because the Internet could actually help you stay on track and achieve your goals.

On the web, there are a variety of new resources designed to make you stick to your vows. There are web sites to help you generate a new resolution if you haven’t already, those that let you meet others who have pledged to make the same changes, and then there are some web sites that will even send you daily emails to encourage you to stick to your program.

"January is a big month of change," says Ariane de Bonvoisin, founder, CEO and so-called Chief Change Optimist at the First30Days, a web site based on her popular book The First 30 Days (HarperOne 2008) which is about making life changes. The web site has identified 60 different life changes that people often try to make -- to exercise, pursue a dream, find romance or sock away some savings.

If you already feel like you’re slacking off on your resolutions, here's how you can find support on the Internet and stick to the improvements you want to make this year:

1. Find resources to help you make resolutions
The first step in making a New Year's resolution that you can stick to is to realize that there are others out there who want you to meet your goal too. The federal government, for example, has a section of its official USA government web site listing the top New Year's resolutions that Americans make with links to agencies that can help you get where you want to go. For example, to help you reduce stress, the web site has a link to the National Institutes of Health with stress management tutorials in English and Spanish. To help you get fit, the site has a link to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports with recommended guidelines for physical activity.

Another site, eHow, also offers advice to help you set realistic goals and break them down into smaller feats you can accomplish. So if you want to lose weight, one of the smaller goals may be to join a gym. Or, the American Psychiatry Association operates HealthyMinds, which coaches you to only make resolutions you can attain and to forgive yourself if you get off track.

2. Find specific web sites for your specific goals
Another way to use the Internet is to turn to sites that cater to your particular goals, including these popular resolutions:

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Elizabeth Wasserman Elizabeth Wasserman is a freelance writer and editor based in Fairfax, Va. She writes for a variety of publications, including Congressional Quarterly and Inc. magazine, and she edits the online publication CIO Strategy Center.