Happy New Year!!! It's been a while since I have taken to the Blog to share things and I have missed it! For anyone who still likes to read my blog posts: thanks for sticking by me even though I am the most inconsistent and unreliable blogger, possibly, ever! I hope everyone had a really lovely Christmas and New Year and you are all looking forward to a happy, successful and exciting 2018!
Today I want to share some of my thoughts on New Years resolutions and share some tips on how being more mindful can help you to achieve your 2018 goals.
Firstly, New Years resolutions, however good the intentions may be, are (to me) really pressurising! There's this belief that your New Years resolutions should begin on January 1st, be super extreme, super unrealistic and there's a lot of pressure for everyone to have one!
Now, I think the concept of giving yourself new challenges and using the New Year as a starting point for you to make some needed changes in your life is really great. What I don't agree with is all that added pressure that ultimately results in you being unhappy, non-committed and feeling even worse about yourself than you did before you started. *Note: speaking from personal experience of failed New Years resolutions and totally accept that this is not always the case*.
How I prefer to see it instead is to set goals and intentions. The New Year, as said, is a great way to take a fresh look at things in your life and commit to making a change, or achieving something, or maybe even continuing something good that has been a success for you in the past year (GO YOU for keeping it up and making those habits last *flexed arm emoji because blogger doesn't have one*). Setting yourself long term goals that are open and vague enough to not cause too much pressure, or constraints, is a good start for those of you who want to make a change but don't know how you're going to achieve it yet.
For example, a lot of people make health resolutions in the New Year. Typically, they include - go to the gym 5 times a week; chuck out all junk food and eat salads and smoothies; go on a cleanse/detox of something (chocolate, alcohol, chips etc.), and so on. How about we just set the long term goal of "by the end of 2018 I want to be living a healthier lifestyle"?.
The intentions you have set here by giving that long term goal may include: to drink more water, to exercise more frequently, to make better food choices, to look after my wellbeing, to spend more time outdoors, and so on.
Notice how none of those intentions had specifics - specific activities for exercising, specific foods to be eating, specific start dates or times scales? The whole point of these longer implemented goals and intentions is to give you flexibility in how you go about achieving that goal to reduce your worries and anxieties surrounding it (a good article from the APA gives some insight from a psychologist on this).
Setting smaller goals throughout the year to help achieve this goal by the end of the year, is a much more sustainable and effective way of making you feel happier and accomplished by the end of 2018.
If you have made some New Years resolutions and are already struggling to see them through, try to re-frame those resolutions into longer term goals and intentions using the tips above! Or keep this post in mind for later in the year when you need a bit of motivation/advice on how to turn it back around on the road to success!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second thing I wanted to talk about in this post is how being mindful in 2018 can help you achieve those lifestyle changes you are eager to make.
The video below is a really interesting Ted Talk (I am a big nerd for Ted Talks) by Judson Brewer about breaking bad habits with the power of mindfulness.
I think a lot of what is said in the video is easily translatable into forming new, GOOD, habits using mindfulness as well as breaking bad ones.
Let's take exercising and working out as an example: by being "curious" and present when you are working out - walking, yoga, gym session, morning runs (whatever form of exercise works for you) - you may become more in-tune with what is going on inside your body. This can make you feel good as you are realising the positive impact your choice to exercise is having on your body and your health. This, eventually, will lead to exercise feeling rewarding. According to the science behind it, rewarding behaviours and positive reinforcement will lead to long term changes and effortless habit formations!
Piece of cake? Not really. I'll be honest and admit that mindfulness in itself is hard. It's hard for you to just apply this mindful mindset to your own goals. Mindfulness, to me, sometimes feels like a workout in itself! It is another practice that requires, dedication, patience, and perseverance!
Full circle. I know, I'm sorry. But trying to incorporate small pieces of mindful thinking and behaving in your everyday life - remembering to be present in what you are doing and bringing your focus to what you are feeling inside your body at that moment in time - can lead to positive changes in all other aspects of your life.
If that sounds like something you think you'd like to try out - make another New Year intention: be more mindful. And remember to not put any pressure on it; forgive yourself when you falter - because we are only human and we all do; and set small, manageable goals throughout the year to keep on track with your progress.
Now that this exhausting, long-winded, but hopefully enjoyable (?), and informative blog post is over... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I hope it is successful and happy and filled with love and accomplishments!
For example, a lot of people make health resolutions in the New Year. Typically, they include - go to the gym 5 times a week; chuck out all junk food and eat salads and smoothies; go on a cleanse/detox of something (chocolate, alcohol, chips etc.), and so on. How about we just set the long term goal of "by the end of 2018 I want to be living a healthier lifestyle"?.
The intentions you have set here by giving that long term goal may include: to drink more water, to exercise more frequently, to make better food choices, to look after my wellbeing, to spend more time outdoors, and so on.
Notice how none of those intentions had specifics - specific activities for exercising, specific foods to be eating, specific start dates or times scales? The whole point of these longer implemented goals and intentions is to give you flexibility in how you go about achieving that goal to reduce your worries and anxieties surrounding it (a good article from the APA gives some insight from a psychologist on this).
Setting smaller goals throughout the year to help achieve this goal by the end of the year, is a much more sustainable and effective way of making you feel happier and accomplished by the end of 2018.
If you have made some New Years resolutions and are already struggling to see them through, try to re-frame those resolutions into longer term goals and intentions using the tips above! Or keep this post in mind for later in the year when you need a bit of motivation/advice on how to turn it back around on the road to success!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second thing I wanted to talk about in this post is how being mindful in 2018 can help you achieve those lifestyle changes you are eager to make.
The video below is a really interesting Ted Talk (I am a big nerd for Ted Talks) by Judson Brewer about breaking bad habits with the power of mindfulness.
I think a lot of what is said in the video is easily translatable into forming new, GOOD, habits using mindfulness as well as breaking bad ones.
Let's take exercising and working out as an example: by being "curious" and present when you are working out - walking, yoga, gym session, morning runs (whatever form of exercise works for you) - you may become more in-tune with what is going on inside your body. This can make you feel good as you are realising the positive impact your choice to exercise is having on your body and your health. This, eventually, will lead to exercise feeling rewarding. According to the science behind it, rewarding behaviours and positive reinforcement will lead to long term changes and effortless habit formations!
Piece of cake? Not really. I'll be honest and admit that mindfulness in itself is hard. It's hard for you to just apply this mindful mindset to your own goals. Mindfulness, to me, sometimes feels like a workout in itself! It is another practice that requires, dedication, patience, and perseverance!
Full circle. I know, I'm sorry. But trying to incorporate small pieces of mindful thinking and behaving in your everyday life - remembering to be present in what you are doing and bringing your focus to what you are feeling inside your body at that moment in time - can lead to positive changes in all other aspects of your life.
If that sounds like something you think you'd like to try out - make another New Year intention: be more mindful. And remember to not put any pressure on it; forgive yourself when you falter - because we are only human and we all do; and set small, manageable goals throughout the year to keep on track with your progress.
Now that this exhausting, long-winded, but hopefully enjoyable (?), and informative blog post is over... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I hope it is successful and happy and filled with love and accomplishments!
No comments