An article by Gary Durkin © Copyright 2005 - All Rights Reserved worldwide.

P.M.A - so what is it? Some people will automatically recognise this acronym - Positive Mental Attitude.

Yadda yadda... blah... blah.... some people think, but PMA should be likened to 'dieting'.

No, I haven't gone completely insane (not quite), but one major failure that many people are guilty of, is to overlook a common theme that links both PMA and dieting.

Instead of considering a weight-loss plan / calorie controlled diet as a short-term temporary measure, it's more effective to adopt a permanent, ongoing lifestyle change. Eat better, eat more fresh fruit, vegetables, salad, less fat, sugar, and so on, exercise regularly and keep doing so, rather than Yo-Yo dieting, your results and long-term benefits are enhanced greatly.

Equally so, trying to temporarily change way we think, feel, look at life - only to slowly revert back into old ways, or 'comfort zone', is as effective as ordering regular fries for a couple of weeks, instead of your usual ‘supersize’ portion - in hope of getting 'body beautiful'!

Effective dieting comes from a lifestyle change and ensuring you stick with it. Just as it is with 'attitude'.

So how do you achieve PMA?

There's no magic solution, no wonder-pill, no secret. It's a gradual process, taken in steps, one at a time.

There are a few common ‘sayings’ that can get everyone off to a good start. “Before you lose your temper… count to ten” “Take brake off your brain, before you put your mouth into drive”.

Those are a couple of classics that I’ve overlooked on a few occasions!

But PMA can be far more than that. It’s about belief, will-power, being positive, attitude adjustment. It makes all difference.

One of biggest contributors which dictates success or failure of those trying to quit smoking…. is will power. Feeling positive about school, college or university examinations increases likelihood of improved performance.

It’s been widely documented that a solid determination to improve or recover, has been an influencing factor to many who are seriously ill or injured.

Perhaps single most important thing you can do to be more successful in keeping your resolution and making life changes is this: don't make New Year's resolutions – make New Month resolutions instead.

Let's face it: If you only take stock of where are and where you want to go in life once a year, then you're probably not going to end up where you want to be. If you set goals and start self-improvement efforts only once a year, you'll forget them. You'll lose focus. You'll get distracted by hassles of day-to-day life. You'll get overwhelmed by magnitude of your goals.

Perhaps most importantly, you'll set goals so far in future that they won't be motivating. And that's why it's better to set New Month resolutions instead of New Year's resolutions.

There's nothing wrong with idea of a New Year resolution; after all, people have been making them for over 4,000 years. The problem is that people don't make them often enough.

Imagine how much more people would achieve if end of every month brought about same feelings as New Year's Eve: that renewed commitment to fitness and weight loss, excitement about their goals and their future, that urge to get organized and get focused. The New Year brings about feeling of a "fresh start," and that can have very real effects; for example, research shows that people are more likely to recover from depression if they have that sense of a fresh start.

Perhaps biggest reason to set New Month resolutions is that short-term goals have repeatedly been shown to lead to more motivation, better performance and greater happiness than long-term goals. Consider this sampling of findings…