Does this happen to you, that you are so eager to start the New Year with great ideas, new habits, and inspiration, but once you start they don’t last? Yep, it happens to the best of us.
Everyone starts enthusiastically at the beginning, the gyms are full and no one can find parking, the sales of alcohol (“Dry January”), cigarettes, sodas, fried food, and other addictive consumptions, decline at the beginning of each year, and the demand for fruits, vegetables, and organic foods increases during the same time. Everyone is on the bandwagon of health, exercise, and self-improvement.
All of the sudden, a month in and everything starts to decline, you get caught on life’s stressors, go back to your comfort zone, and then back to your old self again.
According to research, only about 16 percent of people are able to follow their New Year’s Resolutions.
Why is it that at the beginning of each year, we are so happy and enthusiastic to start a new life, but don’t commit to ourselves?
Some of the most common reasons or excuses people make (me included) are lack of time, motivation, resources, or spark.
Are these causes actually why we do not commit to ourselves? Why can we follow up and commit to another person’s desires, but fail to be accountable to ourselves?
The reasoning behind this way of thinking is very complex, and will take time to be able to begin and explain why people are not accountable themselves, but here is an easy explanation.
If no one knows our commitments, and if we fail to comply with ourselves, our friends and family won’t know about our failure and do not need to feel “guilty” about it.
According to the dictionary, Guilt,“ Is an emotional state where we experience conflict at having done something that we believe we should not have done (or conversely, having not done something we believe we should have done”).
Guilt is a very powerful emotion that can cause us distress, and anxiety and is pain related.
We do not want to feel pain, we lie to ourselves that our previous behaviors and actions are okay, that is who we are and we are not capable of change. We lie and disrespect ourselves, by convincing ourselves that our behaviors are acceptable to avoid the feeling of remorse and pain.
What if, there is another way, to change our behaviors, our way of thinking, and our habits, that can enable us to stick with our plans and resolutions?
The answer is easy, but difficult to accomplish. Change your Perspective.
This means, changing your mind, modifying your actions, building different habits, and your new behavior will lead you to your new self.
Change is a source of pain, but also growth. The difference between guilt and change is that the pain of guilt lasts forever and the pain of change is temporary. The problem also is that change is inevitable and even if you like it or not, you eventually will need to change your habits and behaviors to be able to grow. Only you can decide in which direction you are going to lead your life.
Change your perspective, instead of looking at the glass as half empty, see it as half full. See the positive and the opportunity in every situation.
Here are some examples of how I achieved my goals:
You decide that your health needs to improve, but hate going to the gym and eating salads, change your perspective. Instead of going to the gym, look for other alternatives that make you happy, have fun, and exercise at the same time. You can get active in your own home, by watching exercise videos on YouTube or trying Hiit Training for Women with Metabolic Renewal, which is tailored for Women's Health and Female Hormones. Find information about how your Hormones, body type, and age group affects your energy and how to tailor exercises for your specific body type.
One thing I enjoy is Nature, on days when I am not in the mood to visit the gym or exercise at home, I go for a walk in the park. This will reduce stress, and anxiety, and walking is a great natural exercise. It’s not a high-impact exercise but its benefits outweigh the sacrifice.
If you do not like healthy foods, find fruits, and vegetables that you may like and learn how to do different recipes with them. You will find your own way of eating healthier. Once your body gets accustomed to your new healthy habits, it will be difficult to go back to your old ones. For example, I used to dislike salads, but now I do enjoy them and crave them. What helped me was, finding what vegetables I liked and sticking with the same routine, adding salad dressing, croutons, and sometimes bacon bits. I know this is not the healthiest choice, but at least I am eating a salad, instead of a Big Mac. Small changes like these can cause a big impact.
This is what I mean by changing your habits, by tailoring them to your own.
If you know that there is the possibility of you going back to your old habits, get an accountability partner. This can be your best friend, family member, your spouse, or significant other. Make sure you make a deal with them first, that if you do not achieve your goals for a specific time, there will be a penalty. For example, you would have to pay them $50-100 or donate this amount to your favorite charity, just in case you lose, make it painful enough without going broke, for your own motivation.
My accountability partner is my husband, for example, I was craving something sweet the other day and one of my favorite desserts is a Coke Float, but in Puerto Rico, where I am from, we call them Black Outs (my best guess for this name is that because we blend Coca Cola with Vanilla Ice Cream, the consistency is like a milkshake but dark cream in color). He said to me, “are you sure you want to drink a Black Out, weren’t you on a diet”? This made me pause and re-think my decision, he was right I made the decision to change my habits and behaviors to have a healthy lifestyle, so instead, I ate a banana. Even though I still craved the delicious drink, I resolved my sweet cravings and ate something healthy instead. This doesn’t mean I am going to make the right decision all the time, but this time I did, and felt proud of myself.
Remember to celebrate your wins, each day, because that is the motivation to keep you going. Every little step gets you closer to your goals.
Another powerful tool is to visualize yourself in 1, 5, or 10 years. Does the behavior that you want to change, will bring joy or sadness in the future? If your answer is joy, then visualize your future self and start doing the things you need to do today, to be that person for tomorrow. If not, continue with your old habits and possibly regret them in the future. My powerful motivator is my daughter, and I want to be an example for her, so if I want to instill healthy habits for her well-being, I have to make sure I am making the right choices.
The moment is now, act now to become the best version of yourself.
Remember to change your thoughts, because they will turn into actions, your actions will determine your habits and your habits will mold your character, changing your Destiny.
Make this New Year your best year yet and start making healthy life choices and changing your old habits for new and beneficial ones. You decide what is best for you and how to accommodate these changes in your life to make it better for you and cause a positive effect or example for the people that surround you.
Stay tuned for more ways you can ensure that your New Year’s resolutions stick, and become a reality, and a true life changer. In the next Blogs, we will be discussing life hacks to improve your health, self-esteem, and spirituality, get you motivated, inspired, and much more.
Remember you cannot change the World, but you can change yourself for the better. One drop of water can cause a ripple effect, be the change, cause a positive effect, and give rise to the ripple.
Resources:
Metabolic Renewal www.naturalhealthsherpa.com
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