 Have you given thought to what the New Year might bring for you? Are you turning your thoughts to a healthier, wealthier, happier version of yourself? Are you trying to temper those unrealistic expectations
New Year resolutions generally don't work because they are largely a wish list of WHAT you want, without any great detail of WHY, HOW or FOR WHOM you want it. And without asking and answering those other questions, you're unlikely to have the tenacity to keep going when the going gets tough. If you're not really clear on why you want something, and if that WHY is not really compelling TO YOU then you're likely to find the momentum drops off really quickly. Wanting something because someone else values it is not a great motivator, but if you really, really want it, that motivation is likely to take you to your desired end point. And if the consequence of not getting your desired outcome is negative, then you'll be even more motivated. Knowing why you're sacrificing to get your outcome, will help you though the bad times. Many resolutions begin with a plan, but if the plan is too tough and the sacrifice too great is will be very difficult to sustain. Will power will only take you so far. Much better to take the long view. If you know how you will achieve your plan, then pick one thing and do it consistently until that action becomes a habit. And give your habit time to bed in - it takes about 3 months to really establish a habit. Pick one small habit every month to establish into your routine and by the end of the year you will have stacked a dozen new habits that have the potential to transform your life. The reason why habit stacking works so well is that it becomes effortless once the habit is established. The habit becomes part of your routine: you don't need to think about, you just do it. So, for example, you'd like to get healthier - you're sick and tired of being sick and tired. You want it for YOU - you really would like to feel better and have more energy. The consequence of not having it is that you will continue to feel sluggish, sleep poorly and not enjoy life as you would like to - and that would be bad because you're sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. You decide you need to change it, but HOW? You want to exercise more, eat more healthily, drink more water, and get a better quality sleep. So far it's all fairly non-specific and nothing that falls into a routine. So how can you transfer these into habits? What about, dropping the car off 1 mile from work, so that you have to walk to and from work to the car, increasing your exercise by 2 miles a day? Or start the day with a glass of hot water and swap your evening drink with a glass of water or a herb tea? Or batch cook a pot of soup one day a week, so that you can swap the Greggs baguette for some healthy home make soup? Or book a regular reflexology treatment to help you de-stress, detox and get a better sleep? Beginning to get the picture? Imagine how your life (and health) would change if you walked 2 miles a day; drank 2 glasses of water or herb tea instead of regular tea/coffee/alcohol; swapped a bowl of soup for your lunchtime bagette; and booked in regular treatments to help you de-stress. And you're only at April! Imagine what habits you could introduce in the rest of the year to transform your life! Give it a try and let me know how you get on ...
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