A new year is a fresh start, a clean slate. Some find it cliché or, perhaps, silly to make resolutions but I think it's the perfect time. We can look back at the past year and decide what parts of ourselves we'd like to strengthen and nourish. We can also ask ourselves, "what would make me look back at this year with pride?"
I have come up with a list of things that sprung into my mind, feel free to use any of them that fit you!
* Volunteer more *Lose X amount of weight (or get closer to my recommended BMI)
*Give up an addiction (sugar, alcohol, tobacco, pinterest-kidding, etc.)
*Take up opportunities for professional development *Become more organized
*Spend more time in prayer/ meditation *Lesson my debt/ become debt free
I know there are many more but what you/I need to do is focus on a couple of the big ones. My main focus for 2017 is to let go of my anger and frustration and concentrate on happiness and self love. I think it's important to find a thesis statement (of sorts) or commitment statement for your aspirations for the year. Now this will sound broad, because it is, however, it needs to be something that I can look in the mirror on December 31st, 2017 and say it in confidence. "I DID let go of my anger and frustration, I DID find happiness and self love!" I know, cheesy, right? But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Let me give another example. Say that my goal was to lose 40 pounds. I cannot have a statement that says, My main focus is to lose forty pounds... well you can but, may I suggest instead to say, I will make a commitment to a healthier lifestyle and will see it reflected in my mind and body. If you need help developing a statement, I would be MORE than happy to help!
After developing your commitment statement, that's when the real work begins. How am I going to make that statement into reality? What steps can I take to ensure its fulfillment? What mini goals can I make to move myself into the right direction?
Let go back to the example of losing weight. In order to create that healthier lifestyle, there are many things that can and need to be changed. I suggest sitting down with a planner and journal (or notebook). In the notebook write down all of the things that you need to do in order to make a healthy lifestyle and the specifics that go with it.
Examples: HEALTHIER FOOD- more fruits and veggies, lots of water, healthy recipes, track foods that are consumed
EXERCISE- decide if you can afford a local gym or if you're going to work out at home, what exercises do you like or are you open to trying, when can you fit working out into your schedule, what clothes or supplies will you need to ensure you get up and moving without excuses
SUPPORT- will my family be supportive or do I need to find a group that motivates me (i.e. Weight Watchers, TOPS group, etc.), do I have a friend that would hold me accountable to go to the gym with him/her, is there a person I can call if I need a distraction from mindless eating
Once you have exhausted your list of all the things that need to change and ways to do it, then we break it all down into mini goals. Let look at the HEALTHIER FOOD category. It can be broken down into weekly goals, I will eat 3 veggies every day this week, or monthly goals, In January I will drink 60oz of water each day and consume 3-5 servings of fruits and veggies at least 25 days this month. The most important thing to do is WRITE IT DOWN, write your mini goals in your planner as a constant reminder. You should also record daily things, such as when you ARE going to workout or on this day you ARE going to try a new fruit... whatever the case may be. I also encourage you to check it off when you complete it and to be constantly making new goals. Let's say in January you worked out 20 days and you had made a goal of 20 days in February, why not switch it to 22 days?
The main idea is that you create mini goals and write them down, all feeding into your main commitment statement for the year. Never get discouraged and keep looking for new mini goals to create.
