How are you feeling now that we are over one month into the new year? Still excited? Still motivated? Still working on getting rid of old baggage? I like to talk about resolutions once the January hype has faded, when the real work of keeping those resolutions comes into play. It might be time to rethink your resolutions, or at least rethink your game plan...
Unpopular Opinion: Now that a new year is upon us, most likely you won't be able to magically and automatically shift out of the energy of the past year. You have to make moves to start seeing and feeling real changes. It’s wonderful to have general feelings of hope for a new year filled with improvements, but it’s time to get specific if you want to see and bask in the benefits of real change. Read below on how to set and keep goals for the new year.
1. Rewind & Recap: What You Learned and How You Grew
If the past year brought you some hardships, you might not want to look back on the past year and that's understandable. However, if we want to move forward into a bigger and brighter year filled with improvements, we need to reflect on our personal growth so far. I highly recommend documenting (whether that’s by hand, typing, or even voice recording) an overview of your challenges, your experiences, and your feelings for the pst year. Revisit the good, the bad, the ugly, the unprecedented, and pull what wisdom you can from it. Write down any silver linings that came from the past year; these don’t have to be massive accomplishments or breakthroughs, but anything that you can be grateful for or have learned from. When we are able to dive deep into our vulnerabilities and our discomforts and sit with them with a kind, yet analytical mind, we grow a great deal. Over the past few years, many of us were faced with the discomforts of uncertainty, of isolation, and of a massive shift in how we socialize and operate as a society. Let’s reflect on what we can of the past, process any lingering emotions we’ve attached to these reflections, and then make the conscious decision to learn and improve from them.
2. Think About What You Truly Want & Need: Think Outside the Box
You’ve taken the time to reflect and to learn from the past, now it’s time to think about what you want and need for the present and the future. Too often do we make resolutions that lead us astray from what we really need to grow and feel happy. We usually follow a suggested set of rules and traditions about resolutions. We think a new diet, a new workout regimen, or another hardcore, drastic change will be the solution to whatever problem is in our head...but is it really the solution? I encourage you to think outside the box when determining your resolution. Think about the why behind your resolution and make that the focus of your actions.
For example, your New Year’s resolution may be to lose weight, but why? Is it for genuine health concerns or is it purely aesthetic? Is it because you are wanting to feel better or to feel more confident about your body and yourself? When you start to question the reason you want to do something, you get a better understanding of your underlying personal needs. In fact, when you start digging, you might realize you don’t actually need to accomplish that surface level resolution, but instead, need to get to the bottom of your ambitions and pick a resolution that helps you improve on a deeper level. To stay with our example, maybe you don’t need to lose weight, but instead, need to gain healthier habits to feel more self love and security in yourself and in your life.
3. Manifest, but ALSO Make Moves
You have your resolution! Wonderful. It’s time to get into a headspace of self-belief and gratitude for what’s coming. However, while I am a strong believer in the law of attraction and the premise of manifesting, we need to pair a manifesting mindset with action. Write down your resolution/goal, why you are doing it, and then the actions steps on how you will achieve it. Studies show that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down. Write down your resolution as a SMART goal (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time bound) and then write down specific action steps that will help you achieve it. Then actually start taking action and checking off those action steps!
4. Keep Judgement to a Minimum & Encouragement to a Maximum
No one is perfect and thank goodness because perfection is boring and we need to make mistakes to learn sometimes. If you fall behind on some of your action steps, don’t beat yourself up or forget all of the progress you’ve made. Get back on the horse and stop thinking about how you fell. Move forward and keep going, even if it’s hard. If you begin to lose motivation, then try to remember why you started working towards your resolution. If you feel like you need physical or emotional support from others to help you stay on track then make the effort to reach out to friends, family, or other encouraging support systems like our center. Reach out to one of our many practitioners/team members, or nourish yourself and your mindset with one of our healing SERVICES.
WE BELIEVE IN YOU! IT'S TIME TO START BELIEVING IN YOURSELF!
Written By Michelle Eggink,
Nutritional Therapy Practitioner
Meditation & Mindfulness Teacher
