I’m here to tell you that if you’re anything like most people, all those great New Year’s plans don’t always work out the way you actually plan. Life gets in the way, work gets in the way, family, the Olympics, blah blah blah! There are loads of excuses and we won’t go into those at the moment. I’ll leave that up to you and your therapist. Just know that it’s not too late to start again. We’re only 6 weeks into the new year and while many of us give up, you’re not going to be one of those people!
Here are 3 ways to re-commit to your new life!
Set a New Goal
Fitness is the easiest example of this. I sign up for a race such as a 10k or 1/2 marathon, or triathlon, and it immediately gives me months of training. Mostly because when I show up to that start line I want to make sure I’m fit and ready to go. Or at the very least, I don’t want to make a fool out of myself or cause any self-inflicted pain. That means I have to workout and train. So, if fitness was on your New Year’s resolutions, get back in the game, choose an event to train for and give yourself the gift of being strong!
Ease Up on Yourself
This is common for a lot of people, but in general, I think we are way more critical than we are encouraging and supportive to ourselves. Therein lies the problem and the solution. I don’t know when it became ok to beat ourselves into submission. I wish I knew and had a time travel machine, I’d go back and make sure we didn’t do that anymore! When we search for the problem, inevitably we’ll find a solution. Here the solution is the opposite of that critical negative thinker. It’s the encouraging, supportive voice inside your head. Tap into that. Ask that part of yourself for advice and encouragement. This will work with any resolution or goal whether it’s a diet, exercise, relationship, financial, or otherwise. And if you catch yourself being critical, stop, take a moment, and shift gears. You’ll thank yourself later!
Course Correct
It’s always good to take inventory and change directions if and when you need to. This can be difficult to do, especially if you suffer from the previously noted critic. All it takes is a minute to reassess your plan and your goals. You can do this monthly, weekly, and even daily. But make sure you give yourself the leeway to change course. Sometimes we get so rigid once we set our goals that we falter and throw out the baby with the bath water, as it were. Take the good and leave the bad behind. Learn from it, grow, and move on. For instance, if you set a goal to meditation 20 minutes every morning and you haven’t been doing that, change to 5 or 10 every other day. It might help you benefit from profound practice of meditation as opposed to not meditating at all because you didn’t live up to your original goals.
To recap, when you get off course with your goals or intentions, assess them on a weekly or monthly basis. If you don’t like where you’re headed, simply change, but don’t let the entire year go by without giving yourself a second chance. If you’re not going to give yourself that second chance, no one else will. I’m always here to help you along the journey if you need some guidance. Send me a message @teddymcdonald. In the meantime, stay healthy and keep living the best life possible and soon we’ll be climbing to the top of the Grand Tetons!
Originally published on the author’s website.
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