Just a few days left before New Years! A few precious hours to pack in all the bad things you are going to resolve not to do in a few days. Just for old times sake of course. In my experience, those that commit to doing things, and commit to doing them right away get better, faster, more long lasting results. Better, faster, more long lasting than those that wait for New Years, Monday, after they get pregnant, after their kids leave home, after they get that job, after, after, after….
What do those people that start right away have that the others don’t? A burning YES! A huge DESIRE! Along with the knowledge and the skills required to make change we all need to have the desire to do it. If you don’t do it, or if you delay action, you simply don’t want it badly enough…whatever ‘it’ is. My suggestion… start now and don’t delay. It won’t ruin your new years, it will make your new years come in and go out with a bang. If your new years resolutions have something to do with creating a new habit, as most of them do, then remember the three things you need to create a solid and long lasting habit. You need the knowledge (what to do and how to do it), the skills (the how to do it) and the desire. The knowledge and skills you can figure out yourself, and if you can’t you can turn to a professional, either in the form of a book or someone skilled in a particular area. The desire is pretty much up to you (reinforcing the ‘why’ is helpful in this area). If your why is strong enough, it shouldn’t be hard to find your desire.
Here is an exercise you can do prior to New Years to get a wonderful start to your resolutions. Download wheel-of-life.jpg You can either download the attached file or take a piece of paper and write down the major categories in your life, such as family and friends, fun and recreation, career, physical environment, romance, finances, personal growth, health etc and rate yourself from one to ten in each of these areas, 10 being perfection and 1 being needs a lot, a lot of work. The lower you rate yourself in each of these areas, the stronger your desire should be to resolve to change these. Next, figure out your plan of action, what do you need to do to create change in this area. Think step by step (bite size chunks as I like to say) and make it SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely). Lastly, resolve to do it. DO NOT WAIT TO GET MOTIVATED!
New Years is a wonderful time for creating change and/or reinforcing good habits. Put yourself at the top of your to do list this year! Be healthy, have fun, thrive and enjoy life.
Happy New Year everyone!!
Christine
Christine is a nutritionist, yoga instructor and personal trainer who specializes in weight loss and womens health at Four Forty Fitness for Women in Burlington, Ontario. Check out the website at www.fourfortyfitness.ca