New Year Resolution
Dr. Shahnoos Mahdavi is a board-certified internal medicine physician practicing in Long Beach, CA. Since 2008 she has been involved predominately in acute care settings allowing for a comprehensive understanding of patient needs. In her Clinic, Novel U Wellness, Her goal is to help her patients live their best life, featuring... more
Everyone loves the promise of starting fresh and the opportunity to make positive, healthy life changes. And yet…remember those New Year’s Resolutions made when the clock struck midnight on January 1? Prioritizing the betterment of our minds and bodies is top of mind for many of us. A Forbes Health/One Poll survey reported popular New Year’s Resolutions for 2024 ranged from improved fitness (48%), improved mental health (36%), losing weight (34%) and improved diet (32%). And now that it’s February, if you’re not feeling so resolute now about promises you made to yourself back in January, you’re not alone.
Only 8% of Americans are likely to succeed in keeping their New Year’s resolutions for the full year, according to a study by the University of Scranton published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology. In fact, more than half of us abandon our resolutions within the first three months, according to New Year’s resolutions statistics released by
the Forbes Health/One Poll Survey in December 2023. It’s easy to see why the predictable cycle of setting resolutions at the outset of the new year only to fail in just a few weeks has resulted in many people adopting an attitude of, “Why do I keep trying?” However, I urge you to look beyond, “Why do I keep trying?” and instead ask, “Why do I keep trying … alone?” Let me tell you a personal philosophy of mine: none of us ever attain true success without help from others.
You are not isolated on a deserted island – so stop living that way. Assembling a team of people dedicated to holding you accountable and helping you achieve your goals will give you that added boost that will transform your dream of healthy living into reality. It’s well-known in the medical community that high-quality patient-doctor relationships marked by empathy, good communication, collaboration, and trust are linked to better patient outcomes. Johns Hopkins University published a review of survey data gathered from a federally funded weight loss clinical trial that those who felt they received helpful, caring support from their doctor lost about twice as many pounds as those who reported they did not have this close relationship with their doctor.
As an internal medicine physician who specializes in providing comprehensive prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for a wide array of conditions and diseases, I can verify that a high-quality patient-doctor relationship can help you hit your target and set you up for continued, sustained success. If your 2024 New Year’s Resolution is that this is your year to live a more healthy and vibrant life, I would be pleased to support you on your journey to wellness. Novel U Wellness and Rejuvenation Center’s goal is to help you live your best life, featuring weight-loss support, bioidentical menopausal hormone therapy, and more. Novel U brings a unique focus on our patients with an
emphasis on longevity and functional medicine.
