WHY I DON'T MAKE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

WHY I DON’T MAKE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

Making New Year's resolutions used to be a big deal for me. I would start as early as October making a huge list of things that I would change in the new year.

Diet, exercise, getting enough sleep, bikini body by summer…..does this sound familiar?

It seemed that I was making the same resolutions over and over again. According to nymag.com only 8 percent of those who make resolutions succeed in meeting their goals.

Are we a society of non-committals? Not really, there are many reasons that we fail to follow through. Just take a look at the definition:

RESOLUTION

1. A firm decision to do or not to do something.

2. The action of solving a problem, dispute or contentious matter.

I don’t know about you, but to do or not to do something seems like an easy “out” for quitting when you lose interest. This definition sets you up for failure because you can easily choose not to do it. Let’s leave the word resolution for techies and photographers (ie: the number of pixels contained in an image).

I’m not trying to change history here, resolutions have been around for 4,000 years. Ever since Julius Caesar instituted a celebration to honor Janus - a two faced deity. Offerings were given to Janus to make a positive start for the next year. www.history.com

If we attempt the same personal goals each year and always fail by Valentine's Day, it is time to change our approach. Start with what you need to change. Think of Janus with one face looking ahead and one looking back at 2016. What are the problems or complications that happened? What can you do better this year? What have you been putting off? Getting better car insurance, changing your cell phone plan, making a will, changing doctors, getting a checkup, changing schools, furthering your education, buying a house, making a move, staying off social media…….whatever will make your life easier this year.

. As far as changing habits, we have all heard that if you do something for 21 days it makes it a habit. I once followed a running group who wanted to institute a habit of running daily. Our assignment was to run for 30 days straight with no days off. I have been a runner for 26 years, but this program took all the fun out of something that I have a passion for. By breaking the cycle, I actually saved myself from possibly loathing running. Thankfully I am still a runner to this day. So this method is not for everyone. Whatever works for you is the best method. If it is important to you then you will see that it is done. If you stop after a few weeks, it wasn’t that important. We can always find the time to do something that pleases us. Don’t try to make too many changes at once.

Baby Steps: Focus on one little challenge at a time that bring you closer to your ultimate goals

Find your Tribe: Join a group with similar interests, surround yourself with people that will support you and hold you accountable.

Track Your Progress: Find a planner, or use google calendars to have a visual battle plan.

Make your dreamboard: Discover what you actually want and memorize it.

Write about it: Use a diary, graphs, pictures, whatever is your mode of expression to document your journey.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” - Anne Frank

You may not see results right away, and some changes won’t even take all year. This year my focus will not be on resolutions, but on Body,Mind and Spirit. By concentrating on this mantra, it seems that all other little hassles in life seem to resolve themselves, disappear, or become one of the little things that is not even worth the effort to worry over.

I have found that yoga helps with all of these. Yoga exercise is a powerful motivator for our minds. When we spend just 5 minutes to quiet our minds and notice our breathing, that is meditation - it’s as simple as that. Nourish your mind as well as your body, decide on your values and what is right to you, read for one hour a day in the field that you are interested in and you will become an expert in it. I plan on learning Sanskrit terms so I can follow my yoga class and not just do puppy pose all the time. HaHa! But improving yourself is what it is all about. We can organize our lives by taking away all the annoying time consuming habits and find a better way to manage them. This frees up more time for you.

I am beginning the New Year by remembering to live by the Five Reiki Principles:

Just for today, I will not anger.

Just for today, I will not worry.

Just for today, I will work with honesty and integrity.

Just for today I will be kind to all living things.

NEXT WEEK: My Morning Workout Smoothie, and Setting up my Smoothie Cabinet