Math for Grownups
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In Health

How Many Points Is That? (My weight loss journey)

Photo courtesy of TheKarenD

I am not one to talk about my personal weight loss (or gain, usually), especially since I’ve spent years bouncing between feeling good about my figure and avoiding mirrors at all costs.

Fact is, I’ve tried lots and lots of diets — the South Beach Diet, Body for Life, calorie counting, Weight Watchers.  I’ve even tried hypnosis and extreme exercise.  But even though I have never felt completely successful in these attempts, I haven’t failed.  Each time, I’ve refined my goals and figured out things that I will and won’t do.

With all this in mind, I decided in late December that I was going to give Weight Watchers another try. Two things have happened since I was last actively using the program: the PointsPlus program has been refined just a bit, and I wrote a math book.  I have to say that thinking about math so much over the last year has been a great benefit in figuring the PointsPlus values for everything I eat.

(In case you have been living under a rock or don’t know who Jennifer Hudson is, the Weight Watchers program is based on a points system.  Each person is allotted a certain number of points per day, based on their weight and gender.  Everyone also has 49 extra points to eat throughout the week.  Foods have points values based on… well, read on, because that’s kind of what I’m getting to in this post.)

My daily PointsPlus allotment is 26.  I use online tools to help me track the points of the foods that I’m eating (and the drinks that I’m drinking).  And of course, I have those extra 49 points to spread throughout the week.

So first, my math brain figured out that if I use up all 49 points throughout the week (and believe me, I do!), that translates to 7 points per day.  If I only eat an extra 5 points one day, I have an extra 9 points on another day.  (The 49 points carry over, but if I don’t eat all 29 points in a day, poof! they’re gone.)

Believe me, I’ve gotten damn good at these little calculations.  An extra 2 points is the difference between a light and a regular beer.

But it’s the points values themselves that are so amazing, mathematically speaking.  Weight Watchers has done some pretty tricky math to make it easier for us to figure out what to eat.  Instead of counting just calories, we’re considering four components of our food:  protein, fiber, carbohydrates and fat.  These values are run through a formula that outputs a handy-dandy PointsPlus value.  (Online tools and special calculators find PointsPlus values for any foods, and common values are listed in a variety of Weight Watchers resources.)

This formula is pretty complex.  I’ve seen versions of it online, and apparently it is written in black and white in Weight Watcher’s patent.  But I don’t need to have the details to know some pretty simple things:

1.  Four of the formula’s variables are the amount of protein, fiber, carbohydrates and fat in the food.

2.  The answer is likely rounded, since PointsPlus values are all whole numbers.

That last one is pretty important.  It means that 0 points isn’t necessarily 0 points.

You see, almost all veggies and fruits count as 0 points — a big change in the program.  This makes perfect sense, because we should all be eating more fruits and veggies, not deciding between a banana and a low-calorie fruit bar that was made in a factory far, far away.

But fruits and veggies have calories and sugars. That means an apple may actually have 0.2 points (or something like that). So while one apple may be 0 points, 7 apples probably aren’t.  In other words, this is a case of 0 + 0 ≠ 0.

If you’re among the thousands of folks who joined Weight Watchers this month, count math among the skills that will help you lose weight — whether you’re counting your points or trying to make sense of how it all works!

Are you a Weight Watchers member? How have you used math to help you stay on track?  Or if you’ve managed your diet in other ways, how has math helped?  Respond in the comments section.

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In Math for Parents

Heading Back to Work: The childcare dilemma

Photo courtesy of D Sharon Pruitt

Every day, around the world, countless mothers (and quite a few fathers) are considering the same question: Now that my kids are older, is it time to go back to work?  The U.S. Census reported that there were 5 million stay-at-home mothers in 2010.  And the decision to forgo paid employment in favor of days filled with finger paint, potty-training and Mommy-And-Me playgroups is certainly rife with emotion and even debate.

It’s also very personal, and not just because these choices reflect our unique sets of values.  The decision to be a stay-at-home parent — or to return to work — is a financial one.

Let’s face it, if the family needs the money, going back to work sure beats sharing a one-bedroom apartment with three kids, a dog and a snoring partner.  Right?  But the math has to work out.

That’s because for many parents, returning to work means paying for childcare — and anyone who has done this knows it usually ain’t cheap.  The good news is that the math involved is pretty simple.  You just need to take a little time to work it out.

Jackie has three gorgeous kids, all under the age of 6 years old.  As the economy has worsened, her husband’s salary just isn’t going as far as it used to, and besides, she’d like to get back to her career as a pediatric nurse.  The doctor she once worked for called to see if she’d be interested in a part-time position at his practice.

Financially speaking, is this a good idea?  Let’s look at the numbers.

If she takes this position, she can earn $210 per day, after taxes, and she would be expected to work three days a week.  The practice doesn’t offer health insurance for part-time workers, but the family is on Jackie’s husband’s plan, so that’s a non-issue.  Other benefits are minimal, as there are no sick or vacation days and no retirement fund.  (She can switch schedules with another part-time nurse to cover any days she needs off.)

How much can she expect to earn each week?

$210 x 3 days = $630

Jackie can’t bring her kids to work with her or let them fend for themselves.  Nope, she’s got to think about laying out some cash for childcare, and like most folks, Jackie has a somewhat complex situation to consider.  Her oldest is in half-day Kindergarten, so she only needs part-time care for her.  But her three-year-old twins need to be looked after all day.  While her mom would love to watch the kids, the eight-hour commute to her house just isn’t practical.

Calling on friends and neighbors, Jackie considers her options.  Pretty quickly, her decision becomes clear.  Luckily, there’s a daycare center just around the corner from her daughter’s elementary school.  Even better, it offers part-time care.  And just down the street from Jackie’s house lives a woman who offers in-home care.  She places a few calls and learns that each place has openings.

Still, she needs to crunch the numbers.  The daycare center charges $50 per day, for part-time care.  The in-home caregiver charges $175 per week, per child.  How much of a hit will Jackie take in her take-home pay?

First, she needs to find the cost per week for her older daughter:

$50 x 3 days = $150

Next, she needs to find the weekly cost for her younger children:

$175 x 2 = $350

Finally, she adds the two together:

$150 + $350 = $500

So she can reasonably expect to pay $500 per week in childcare.  That means she’ll be taking home $130 each week.

$630 – $500 = $130

Yikes!  What looked like a great part-time salary is now looking pretty skimpy.  But there are two more calculations Jackie considers before freaking out: Her monthly and yearly take-home after childcare costs.

$130 x 4 weeks = $520 per month

$130 per week x 50 weeks = $6,500

These numbers tell her that she can contribute more than $500 each month to the mortgage payment.  Or if her husband gets that promotion he’s looking at, they could put almost $7,000 towards their savings.

There are also other financial benefits to consider.  For example, if Jackie keeps one foot in her career, she can get up to speed (and stay ahead of) changes in her field.  And if she’s already employed at the doctor’s office, she may be better positioned for a full-time job once the kids are all in school.

Now Jackie only has to deal with the emotional decisions — which are pretty tough.  But with these figures, she can at least say for sure how her family’s budget will benefit in the short run.

All you parents, what went into your decision to get back in the work force or stay at home? Did you do the math to figure out if it was financially worth it?  Or did the numbers show that staying at home was much more financially viable? Share your stories in the comments section.Save

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In Math for Grownups

Leaping into Self-Employment (Hint: Math helps!)

Photo courtesy of shimelle

Deciding to leave a steady job with a steady income is a big step.  Leaving in favor of working for yourself might seem like the craziest idea of all.  Believe me.  I know from experience.

I’ve been a freelance writer for going on 11 years now, about half of that time while holding down a part- or full-time job.  But when my family decided to move to Maryland, I figured it was a good time to try freelancing “without a net.”  I didn’t have a job yet, but I did have a Rolodex full of great editorial contacts and a good understanding of how to build a freelance career.

Over the last six years, I’ve grown my business in many ways: from part-time to full-time, from focusing on journalism to writing a book and shifting my attention to curriculum development.  (I did the latter, when the bottom fell out of the magazine industry a few years ago.)

I can say two things about this experience: Math definitely helped me launch and sustain my new career. And I couldn’t have made the leap without the support and advice of writer extraordinaire and all-around generous gal, Linda Formichelli.

I met Linda when we were both starting out, but she was about a year ahead of me in the process.   These days, Linda is an accomplished writer with two books (The Renegade Writer and Query Letters that Rock), bylines from countless top-notch publications and a booming coaching business.

One thing that any experienced and successful freelance writer knows is this: The writing is secondary.  Sure, I’m in it to write.  But without some really good business skills, no one will hire me to do what I love.  In other words, we’re business owners first and writers second.  (And this is true for almost anyone who runs their own business.)

Unlike me, Linda doesn’t have a degree in mathematics.  (Her Master’s from Berkley UC is in Slavic Languages.)  Doesn’t matter.  Linda has learned to apply math to her freelance business.  First up: dealing with the bottom line.

“I needed to figure out my hourly copywriting rate based on how much I needed total to make a living plus the amount I needed for overhead — equipment, office supplies, etc.,” Linda says. “I divided that by the number of billable hours I predicted I would have in a year, and also had to keep in mind the going rates — what the market would bear.”

So no, Linda was not consumed with the kinds of pens she would use or scribbling by candlelight each night.  The practical won over the romantic.  Even with magazines.

“Magazines usually pay by the word, and I needed to figure out how that translated to an hourly rate,” she says. “For example, I sometimes make more money per hour writing for 50 cents per word versus $2 per word because the $2 per word articles are much more research-intensive and often required multiple rewrites.”

(I can’t tell you how important her last sentence is.  If a publication requires many hours of editing and rewrites — and some do — your hourly rate plummets.  This is part of what we freelancers call the PIA factor.)

Knowing how quickly she can write also helps establishing whether or not an assignment makes sense.

“I know that I can write about 800 words an hour (after the research and interviews are completed), so I can figure out how much time it will take me to write an article of any length,” she says. “For example, many articles run at around 1,500 words, so this will take me about two hours.”

Depending on what the client is offering, this may or may not be a good deal.  Here’s an example:

You’ve been offered a 1,500-word story assignment for your local alt weekly newspaper.  They’re willing to pay you $0.35 per word, and you’ll need to do four phone interviews.  You estimate that those interviews will take about an hour each, and you think you can write the story in two hours.  You’ve worked with them before, so you know you can count on about 1 hour of editing. Is the assignment worth it?  Let’s look at the math.

1,500 x $0.35 = $525

So if you do the story, you’ll earn $525.

4 hours (for interviews) + 2 hours (for writing) + 1 hour (for editing) = 7 hours

So you can expect to spend about 6 hours on the story in all.  (Notice, though, that there’s no time allotted for research or back-and-forth with the editor.  And you haven’t included any of the time you spent convincing the editor to give you the assignment.)

$525 ÷ 7 hours = $75 per hour

Now, maybe that’s a good rate for you and maybe it’s not.  Regardless, you now have a solid idea of whether or not you should take the assignment.

(If you’re not self-employed, you may be surprised by this rate.  But remember we self-employed folks are responsible for all overhead — equipment, facilities, health insurance, vacation and sick leave, taxes and retirement savings.)

And this works in all sorts of careers, whether you’re an artisan or have a landscaping business.  The math takes the guesswork out of business planning.  And it can keep you on track in any new business venture that comes your way.

If you are attending the American Society for Journalists and Authors (ASJA) conference in New York in April, be sure to check out my panel on math and writing.  I and two panelists will talk about how math is important in reporting and running a freelance business.  I promise it won’t be boring — and you’ll probably learn how to be a better reporter and business owner.  (Psst: Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project is the luncheon speaker!)

Hey freelancers (of all kinds): what’s your favorite math tip for running your business?  Share it in the comments section.

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In Personal Finance

Trim Your Spending with Percents

The first step to becoming more financially stable is writing down what you spend — and being honest about it.  But what happens when you subtract your expenses from your income, and you’re in the red?   Pouring yourself a stiff drink may be a first step, but it’s not going to solve the problem for you.  Instead, you’re going to have to put on your big-boy or -girl pants and get down to the business of trimming your spending.

But one of the tough parts about budgeting is making reasonable assumptions about what you should be spending on any one category of your budget.  Does it make sense to spend 50% of your income on housing?  Should you cut your monthly savings?

Our brains are funny little organs.  We can convince ourselves that we must have that huge flat-screen television set or we deserve to go out for drinks with the girls every Friday night.  But the numbers don’t lie.

Math can help keep you honest about what you’re earning, spending and putting away for a rainy day, retirement or when you decide that you’d rather be a writer than an advertising sales executive.

Each family or person is different, of course, but there are some great guidelines that can help you see if you’re on track. Here are some examples:

  • Housing should cost no more than 28% to 33% of your monthly gross income.
  • Groceries should account for about 18% of your monthly gross income.
  • You should be saving between 10% and 20% of your monthly gross income.

This is one of those situations when math can really help you lower the emotional impact of your decisions. Knowing what is reasonable to spend on these items can make it easier for you to actually make the changes.

So let’s say you’ve tallied your income and expenses and come up short. (No wonder your credit card bills are so high!)  You  gross $3,127 each month, and your rent is $750 each month.  You spend about $650 on groceries and meals out each month, and you try to put away about $100 into savings.

Of these expenses, what should you cut?  Let’s take a look.  The experts estimate that your housing should cost no more than 28% to 33% of your monthly gross income:

28% of $3,127

0.28 x $3,127

$875.56

33% of $3,217

0.33 x $3,127

$1,031.91

Given your monthly income and the experts’ guidance, you should be spending between $875.56 and $1,031.91 each month on housing.  Your rent is much lower that that, so unless you’re having your living room redecorated by Martha Stewart herself, you should be good to go in that category.

On to groceries:

18% of $3,127

0.18 x $3,127

$562.86

But you’re spending $650 on groceries and eating out each month.  Clearly this is where you can cut some of your spending.

Finally, take a look at savings.  While you could zero this out, so that you can pay off some debt, it’s probably not a good idea to forgo savings altogether.  Besides, didn’t all of our parents preach about having a nest egg?  (In fact, financial experts recommend that we have the equivalent of at least 4 months of our salary tucked away — just in case.)  Building your savings takes discipline and time.  And there’s no better time than the present to get started.

But how are you doing now, according to the expert guidance?

10% of $3,127

0.10 x $3,127

$312.70

20% of $3,127

0.20 x $3,127

$625.40

Hold the phone.  With your measly $100, you’re not even close to what is recommended.  Perhaps you could cut back on your clothing budget, so that you can actually retire on time or have a safety net if your job suddenly goes poof!

I’m the first to admit that these suggested percents are not the be-all-end-all of budgeting advice.  Each one of us has extenuating circumstances to consider.  But why not start with the math?  In terms of what we’re spending, saving and earning, the numbers don’t lie.

P.S. For the really diligent among us, there’s something called the 50/30/20 budget: Must-have expenses (housing, food, insurance, etc.) should account for 50% of your income after taxes, while 30% should be “wants” and 20% should be savings.  The trick here is deciding what is actually a “need” and what is really a “want.”

Using these percents, how are you doing with your monthly spending? Calculate what you should be budgeting for housing, food and savings, and then compare those results with your actual spending and savings.  Tell us how you stack up in the comments section — and best of all, whether the result is surprising.

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In Personal Finance

Budget basics

your New Years resolution is to save money — or spend less — most financial folks will tell you one thing: you’ve gotta have a budget.  This means figuring out what you earn and how to spend those earnings.  Budgets can be complex or simple.  It all depends on what you are comfortable with.  (Personally, I go for simple, because all of those details keep me from maintaining good finances.  But if I needed to pay off a lot of debt or save a good amount of money, I might suck it up and look at every single penny.)

For today’s post, I thought I’d just print an excerpt of my book, Math for Grownups.  Chapter 8 is called “At the Bank,” and it deals with money issues (aside from shopping, transportation or housing, which are covered in chapters 1, 2 and 3).

It’s New Year;s Day, and Darrel is pondering his resolutions over a bowl of black-eyed peas.  For sure, he wants to reach level 65 in Purple Heart: World at War. And he wants to ask out that cute girl in the apartment next door.

But Darrel is also sick and tired of worrying about money.  He’s got a good job as a computer programmer, but for some reason, he’s still ending up with too many bills at the end of the month.  Last year, he had to sell is first-edition Spiderman comic to pick up a little extra cash.  He knows he needs to add a really, really boring New Year’s resolution to his list: keeping a personal finances budget.

He vaguely remembers what his high school consumer math teacher told him about budgets.  At least he remembers there are three parts: income, regular expenses, and occasional expenses.  His income should be greater than all of his expenses put together.

He writes the name of the month at the top of a piece of paper, January, and adds his current monthly income: $2,655.

He’s careful to put his take-home income, not his before-tax income, because that’s all he can spend.

Now he brainstorms all of his regular expenses, including his weekly comic store purchases.  Some of his expenses, such as his electric bill vary a bit form month to month, but he adds up the last year’s worth and divides by 12 to get a monthly average.

Expenses
ItemCostItemCost
Rent$800College loans$200
Electricity$145Gas$100
Water$21Comics$100
Cell$80Groceries$400
Internet$42Entertainment$200
Satellite$100Clothing$100
Car payment$360
Total$2,648

So far, so good.  It looks like Darrel is living within his means, but what will happen when he adds in his occasional expenses?  He brainstorms again, consulting his online banking records for guidance.

Occasional Expenses
ItemCostTotal per year
Car insurances$450 every quarter$1,800
Comic book conventions$4,200 per year$4,200
Professional association dues$500 per year$500
Dojo fees$275 per semester$550
Gifts$170 per year$170
Total$7220

He divides that total by 12 to get his average monthly expense: $601.67.

Darrel adds his regular and occasional expenses together: $2,648 + 601.67 = $3,249.67. That’s more than his monthly take-home pay!  He’s going to have to cut back.  It takes Darrel only a few moments to recalibrate his budget.  He’s going to reduce the number of comic book conventions he goes to and cut down his satellite television expenses. With that, he notices that he can put some money each month into his languishing savings account.  And if, at the end of the year, he gets that raise he’s been expecting, he can put even more away for a rainy day.

This little bit of math gives Darrel a boost of confidence — enough confidence that he picks up the phone and calls his cute neighbor.

Do you use a budget?  If so, what kind?  And how has it helped you manage your finances?

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In Home

Ready, Set, Organize!

Photo courtesy of Rubber Maid Products

When I decided to organize my junk drawer two weeks ago, I did what most folks do — I purchased a drawer divider set with a variety of different sizes.  The idea is to group like things together.  The pencils go in one section, pens in another.  Littler compartments hold paper clips and Box Tops.  And the biggest container is for my precious scissors, which seem to go missing at least once every other day.

In fact, this is the No. 1 tennet of organization: A place for everything and everything in its place.  If I have a designated spot for my daughter’s erasers, they won’t be strewn around my kitchen counters or tossed into the silverware drawer.  (And she won’t be screaming in a fit of last-minute homework, “I can’t find an eraser!)

At least that’s the idea.

And that idea is as old as dirt.  In fact, it has its roots in mathematics, specifically set theory, which wasn’t formalized until Georg Cantor, a German mathematician, published an article on the subject in 1874.  This blew the socks off of the mathematics community — mainly because he proposed that there are two kinds of infinities.

But I digress.

Kindergarteners learn about set theory, when they circle like things on a worksheet.  And many parents probably wonder why this is such a big deal.

In short, set theory is the basis of our numerical systems — among many other things.  Mathematics craves order.  Knowing why things are alike or different can help us solve problems quickly and effortlessly.  Just like knowing where my scissors go (and putting them there) makes it easier for me to find them later on.

As an example, let’s look at the set of whole numbers.

{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, … }

(Okay, just so no fancy-schmancy mathematician jumps down my throat, I have to note here that there is some disagreement about whether 0 belongs in this set.  But for most of the rest of the world, that’s a point not worth arguing about.)

When you know the set of whole numbers, you can determine whether or not a number is in that set.  For example:

0.25 is not a whole number

60% is not a whole number

π is not a whole number

-17 is not a whole number

But: 6,792,937 is a whole number

But why do you care? Honestly, I think the biggest reason is so that you can talk about math.  In this case, set theory tells us the difference between whole numbers, integers, decimals, rational numbers, etc. — even if you don’t remember what all of these are.

(And those of us who know a little bit about math also know that whole numbers are in the set of integers, which are in the set of rational numbers, which are in the set of decimals.)

So this is how math is like organizing.  Both depend on set theory.

I’m not saying that you have to be organized to do math.  Lord knows I’m not.  But the underlying organization of math points to big clues about how it’s done.  Even more basic sets, like geometric shapes can apply in our everyday lives.

The bottom line is this: If  you think  you can get your house or office or car organized (and I believe you can!), you can certainly organize all of what you know about math and put it to good use.  That way, you’ll always know where your area of a triangle is.

How do you think about the structure of numbers or shapes or arithmetic operations?  This points to your intuitive understanding of set theory.  Share your thoughts in the comments section!

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In Health

Watching the Weight Go Down

I suspect I’m not alone in one of my New Years resolutions: to eat better, exercise more and lose weight.  (Ack!  Did I just write that out loud?) Like other women in their mid-forties, I have found my metabolism screeching to a halt and my weight creeping up and up.  So last night, I launched my most recent — and hopefully last — attempt at getting into better habits.

But I’m not fooling myself.  This is a long process with a lot of little steps, some forwards and a few backwards.  My issue is staying motivated.  I do well for a while, and then I slip up — and eventually give up.  So, I’ve got a good plan that should allow me to make incremental changes and leave lots of room for mistakes.  And to accomplish this, I’ve got both measurable and soft goals.

Sure, I want to eat better (I can count each serving of veggies I eat or glass of water I drink.)  And I want to exercise more.  (I can count my hours at the gym or steps I take from my car to the grocery store.)  But for me, those are big changes that will include a lot of frustrating missteps.  In order to stay focused, the real measurement will be my weight.

My goal is to lose 25 pounds. And I’ll track this by weighing myself once a week.

So how long will it take me to lose the weight? This is where the math comes in.  Here’s what I know:

  1. I want to lose a total of 25 pounds.
  2. I will probably lose between 0.5 and 2 pounds each week.

Does this mean I’ll be sitting on a beach in a string bikini in August?  (That’s a joke.  I’ve never worn a bikini in my life.)  Let’s look at the math.

A half pound and two pounds is a pretty wide spread, so based on past experience and my inclination to be more conservative, I’m going to estimate that can lose about a pound each week.  So I can reasonably expect to lose all of the weight in 25 weeks.

Whatever you expect to lose in a week, the math is simple:

total weight lost goal ÷ loss per week = number of weeks

25 pounds ÷ 1 pounds per week = 25 weeks

So if you think you can lose 2 pounds per week, it’ll take you 12.5 weeks to lose 25 pounds:

25 pounds ÷ 2 pounds per week = 12.5 weeks

But there’s one more step I need to take.  I don’t think in terms of weeks.  My brain focuses on months. How many months will it take me to lose the weight?

Again, I’m going to estimate.  While there are approximately four weeks in each month, that’s not an exact figure (except in February during a non-leap year).  But since I’m not measuring out medication or figuring out how much to send into the mortgage company or solving problems for my eighth grade math teacher, I don’t have to be exact.  So I’m going to go with four weeks in a month.

I already figured out that I can probably reach my goal in 25 weeks.  To find out how many months that is, I can just divide by 4 (the number of full weeks in a month):

25 weeks ÷ 4 weeks per month = 6.25 months

Ta da!  I can reasonably expect to lose this weight in six months.  That means if all goes well, I should be at my goal by June.

Like me, are you hoping to lose weight in 2012?  Do the math to see when you’re likely to reach your goal.  And if you want to share, feel free in the comments section.  (It’s scary, but you can do it!)Save

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In Holidays

Turning Over a New Leaf

2012 is just around the corner, and people all over the world are making promises to themselves and others that they may not keep. Yep, it’s New Years resolution time.

Confession time: I’m not so great at keeping resolutions.  And apparently, I’m not alone.  According to a 2010 study, 60% of all Americans have made resolutions at some point in their lives, and 41% did so in 2011.  Unfortunately:

  1. Only 23% surveyed indicated that they had made “significant, long-term” change in 2010
  2. 29% said they had made a “minor change”
  3. Approximately 49% made no change at all

So there’s no point in making resolutions, right?  Based on this research, isn’t your chance of failure greater than your chance of success?

Mathematically speaking, it doesn’t work out that way.  That’s because events like success or failure of a New Years resolution are not random.

Rolling a die is random.  (You have just as much chance of rolling a 3 as a 5.)  Picking a certain card from a full deck is random.  (You have just as much chance of choosing the queen of hearts as the two of spades.)  And flipping a coin is random.  (You have a 50/50 chance of the coin landing on heads.)

But you can’t judge your success or failure in making resolutions based on the research that is done on others’ experiences.  Whether you keep or break a resolution is not random.

In fact, there’s tons of research out there that shows why some folks are able to keep their resolutions, while others are not so successful.  Here are some suggestions:

1.  Keep it simple.  When you make huge lists of resolutions and complex plans for keeping them, it’s likely that  your brain just can’t keep up.  In fact, willpower is the first thing to go.

2. Believe in yourself.  People who believe they can meet their goals actually do!

3. Get support from others.  When you’re made accountable for your actions, it’s easier to stick to your plans.

4.  Be specific. Think of your long-term goal as a series of smaller steps and focus on each one individually.

5.  Remember that change is a process.  Setbacks will happen.  It’s what you do with those little failures that make a difference in your ultimate success.

For the next month, we’ll take a week-by-week look at New Years resolutions — and how math can help you meet your goals.  Stay turned!

P.S. If your New Year’s resolution has anything to do with saving money, losing weight or learning new hobbies — but the math around those goals is frustrating at best — Math for Grownups could be a big help!

Do you make New Year’s resolutions?  Why or why not?  How successful have you been in the past?  Care to share this year’s resolutions?

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