The new year is on the horizon. Are you planning to make any big changes in your life? This week on Health Watch, we’ll talk about making and keeping New Year’s resolutions, as well as about some common health-related resolutions.

New Year’s resolutions can be hard to keep. Dr. Timothy Wolff, a psychiatrist at UT Southwestern Medical Center, says one problem people have with resolutions is they set their goals too high and then get frustrated when they don’t reach them. Another major problem is that people often aren’t really prepared to change because some behaviors are deeply ingrained. You’ll have better luck sticking with your resolutions if you set reasonable short-term goals that you can accomplish. Associate your goals with something you enjoy doing so that making the change isn’t about depriving yourself. Share your goals with someone so you’ll have both accountability and support along the way.

Visit http://www.utsouthwestern.org/patientcare/medicalservices/psych.html to learn more about UT Southwestern’s clinical services in mental health.