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New Year Resolutions.....

New Year’s Resolutions… but not just yet

January 1 is the wrong day to start a New Year’s resolution, according to a top psychologist.

Donna Dawson - who specialises in personality and behaviour - has pinpointed the following Friday (January 6) as a far better day to try and change your life rather than making a knee-jerk decision based on guilt and over-indulgence.

The leading psychologist believes that setting realistic and achievable objectives is the key to success and that begins with the start date for the resolution.

Dawson has teamed up with Sport England’s Everyday Sport campaign to encourage people to build exercise into their daily lives to improve their health and wellbeing in 2006.

She said: “Statistically you are much more likely to succeed if you think out your resolution properly, rather than just rushing into it out of a sense of guilt or impatience. Many people feel a bit low at the start of January, and so it’s much better to give yourself a short period of reflection and adjustment and then go for the changes.

“Often people set their goals far too high, and they are disheartened when they don’t meet their expectations quickly. This is why the Everyday Sport campaign is an ideal way to kick off the New Year: rather than asking you to radically change your lifestyle, it’s all about encouraging people to build activity into their daily routine. This could be anything from taking the stairs instead of the lift, signing up for an activity class at your local leisure centre, or joining a local sports club.

“The more practical and realistic your goals are, the more you will be able to stick with it and see results – which, in turn, will motivate you to carry on for further success,” she added.

Matt Delaney, Regional Director of Sport England, said: “Our main aim with Everyday Sport is to increase the number of people who are taking part in sport and physically activity. What better time to start than in the New Year when everyone is looking to get fit, lose weight and try new activities.”

The Everyday Sport campaign was launched on the back of ongoing evidence from the Department of Health, which reveals that 76% of women and 63% of men in England are not doing the recommended amount of activity for a healthy life (30 minutes five times a week).

Sport England has been set a target by Government of increasing participation in sport and physical activity by 1% every year until 2020. Everyday Sport is the first major initiative in this long-term plan.

Everyday Sport already has the support of more than 60 famous faces from the worlds of politics, celebrity and sport, including Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, Sports Minister Richard Caborn, Rio Ferdinand, James Cracknell, Jonny Wilkinson, Steve Cram, sports commentating legend Barry Davies, Jonathan Edwards, Nell McAndrew, Donna Air and Jayne Middlemiss.

To find out how you can incorporate Everyday Sport into your lives, to find out where you can take up a new sport or activity or for more information about the campaign, log on to www.everydaysport.com or call the Everyday Sport hotline: 0800 587 6000.

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