How to tackle the new year.. EVERY year ( 5 minute read )
I can still remember New Year’s Eve as a teenager, I used to think it would be the only time of year I could change my ways. I would go upstairs and write down resolutions, I had no idea what I was doing but most of the time it revolved around “being good with my diet”. When you start to get exposed to magazines as a teenage girl telling you how to get clear skin and a flat stomach, your resolutions start to revolve around your appearance. I don’t know whether this is the same for teenage boys. As young girls we are told how to look, what to eat and how to exercise to look a certain way as we are more likely to be successful and accepted. We were never told by teenage magazines how to save money or how to manage stress. And so a rinse and repeat cycle went on for about 15 years. 15 YEARS!! Tell me I am not the only one.
So NY resolutions set us for disappointment; they are so restricting, we feel depleted in energy levels and morale and by the end of January we have given up. We can’t stand the gym as we have been every day and if I see one more kale shake, I’m going to hurl. So what is the best way to tackle each year ?
Here are my tips:
What is your end point ? Let’s get real. Is it a house ? Is it landing the dream working week ? Write the things down that you want. At the end of your life, what are you going to look fondly back on?
Once you have established this , know this will take months or even a few years to accomplish. Years I hear you say ?! Yes and when you have come to terms with this fact, I hope you will feel internal peace and control. You have plenty of time but most of us expect to achieve these things in a few months. When we don’t see the results, we give up. You must be in it for the long game.
Fail and fail again. Allowing self audit will help you hash out a better plan if plan A, B and C have not worked. Keep trying. Enlist the right support if you need to in order to become efficient with time and accountable.
List the things which you have tried in the past which have not worked. List the things which have worked, why did they work and who helped you with this? Be aware of where you are going wrong in order to find solutions.
Aim for habits 2-3 times each week. Not every day. Life doesn’t always allow us to do the healthy habits each day. We have illness, we have unexpected family emergencies. You have not failed at exercise if you missed your Bums and Tums class when your relative needed help. Be kind to yourself as well as others.
Schedule in rest/relaxation days. These are just as important as your “ boss” days.
Take your time as you have time. You really do. There are no such things as overnight miracles though a lot of people we admire seem to have overnight success. They did not. They had consistency in their health to give them energy to materialise their dreams. If they can do it, why can’t we ?
