Doing a Little Can Make a Big Difference: Wake Forest Baptist Psychologist Offers New Year's Suggestions

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New Year's resolutions are full of cliches and empty promises but a clinical psychologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has some sound advice that might just help a little.

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"I think most people make resolutions that they don't achieve for many reasons, often because they seem so overwhelming," said William McCann, Psy.D, director of behavioral science education in Wake Forest Baptist's family medicine department. "So, from a psychological perspective we should make resolutions that we are sure to be able to follow through on. While it seems counter intuitive, we should lower our expectations because we want to be able to say to ourselves by next Dec. 31st – 'I did it!'"

McCann's sample list of attainable New Year's resolutions:

• "I will eat a little less fried food this year."
• "I will drive a little more slowly this year."
• "I will help others a little more this year."
• "I will interfere in my children's lives a little less this year."
• "I will talk a little less and listen a little more."
• "I will smile a little more this year."
• "I will be a little better person than I was last year."

"Doing a little bit is like a seed that might grow," McCann said. "Start little and see what happens this 2012."

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is a fully integrated academic medical center located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The institution comprises the medical education and research components of Wake Forest School of Medicine, the integrated clinical structure and consumer brand Wake Forest Baptist Health, which includes North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Brenner Children's Hospital, the commercialization of research discoveries through the Piedmont Triad Research Park, as well as a network of affiliated community-based hospitals, physician practices, outpatient services and other medical facilities. Wake Forest School of Medicine is ranked among the nation's best medical schools and is a leading national research center in fields such as regenerative medicine, cancer, neuroscience, aging, addiction and public health sciences. Wake Forest Baptist's clinical programs are consistently ranked as among the best in the country by U.S.News & World Report.

SOURCE Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

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