As the New Year begins, if you’re like many people, you’re contemplating the past and the present; the old and the new. How do you want to be? What do you want to achieve this year? What’s important? These reflections may lead to musings, whether they be New Year’s resolutions, new year, new me intentions, or simply acknowledging that you have a new start at the new year. It’s easier to be rife with enthusiasm at the beginning of the new year. The new year activates blank slate fantasies, and it can feel like a good opportunity for a new start: Our intentions and resolutions can also feel shiny and new. But as time wears on, the novelty wears off, the resolution can become a source of stress and failure, and motivation tends to wane. However, the people who are successful at staying motivated, staying their course, and achieving goals have a few things in common.

For starters, successful people understand how to make stress work with and for them, realizing that not all of it is equal. They embrace a concept known as “eustress,” a helpful and motivating form of stress. With eustress, we often feel that what we are going through is meaningful and is ultimately beneficial. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal discussed this in her TED Talk1 and book The Upside of Stress. Her research found stress isn't inherently bad; rather, it’s the belief about it that determines whether it positively or negatively affects us.

A 2012 study found that people who experienced chronic stress in the previous year had a 43 percent increased risk of dying, but only for the people who also believed that it was harmful for their health.2 People who experienced a lot of stress but did not view it as harmful were no more likely to die. In fact, they had the lowest risk of dying of anyone in the study,........

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