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14 | THE COLONY NEWS | FEBRUARY 2026 | e Benet of Setting New Year's Resolutions Are there any benefits to making a New Year's resolution even if you are not able to keep it? Statistics show that about 45 percent of people set New Year's resolutions regarding something they would like to change about themselves. Typically, by the end of the first week, 25 percent of resolvers have given up and at six months fewer than half of the resolvers were still at it. What may surprise you is that despite this 50 percent failure rate, resolvers were 10 times more likely to succeed in making changes than those who did not make a resolution. Most of us have something we would like to change about ourselves; but the truth is that change is a difficult and challenging process. In their book Changing for Good, authors James O. Prochaska, PhD., John Norcross, PhD., and Carlo DiClemente, PhD. review their findings based on studying over 1,000 people who they described as successful self-changers. Based on their research, they discovered that successful self-changers follow a predictable six-stage process including pre-contemplation, contemplation, planning, action, maintenance and relapse. e Six Stages of Change - Below is a summary of the six stages of change: 1. Precontemplation - In this stage, you have not yet acknowledged that there is a problem or a need for change and may in fact may be resistant to any suggestions that you need to make any changes. 2. Contemplation - In this stage, you are becoming aware of a need for change and although you are not ready to change, you are thinking about the need to do so. 3. Planning - In this stage, you have decided to make a change and are researching options and preparing a plan of action. 4. Action - In this stage, you are now taking action and implementing your plan for change. 5. Maintenance - In this stage, you have sustained your changes for several months and are now switching your focus on maintaining your progress and preventing relapse. 6. Relapse - It is helpful to understand that relapsing back into old habits is common and that this should not be seen as a failure but as part of the process of change. For example, most people who successfully quit smoking had to try multiple times and typically relapsed 8-10 times before successfully quitting. The process of successful change is far from linear; in fact most successful self-changers will experience a relapse at some point and need to cycle back through the various stages. People who take action and fail usually learn from their mistakes and are twice as likely to succeed over the next six months as those who made a resolution but did not take action. So it seems there is value in making resolutions and even more value if you are willing to take action on those resolutions. Hospice Of The Valleys, Your Local Community Hospice A Note From The Doctor By Leslee B. Cochrane, MD; Executive Medical Director (951) 200-7800

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