Start Another Year With Passion

Commitment to change wanes quickly as the New Year fades into complacency. One of the essential tips to change is to create small wins. Each time you score a win, your brain gets a happy little dose of dopamine, lighting up the ventral striatum (the reward center of the brain). Failure does the opposite. Overriding the struggles of the past, you can achieve better results with smaller, obtainable goals to reach larger, long-term goals. Changes in your behavior create a brain’s desire to propel you forward.

The idea that goal-directed behavior relies on the combined interplay of sensory inputs, emotional information, and memories of prior outcomes is sometimes lost in the details of reward system circuitry and function (Haber, 2011).

Every time you lose a step you’ll keep reminding your brain it’s okay to fail. Every time you accomplish a small goal you remind yourself you’ve got this.

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My struggles over the past few years with my arms, and now with my heart, feel like setbacks beyond my control. However, emotionally, I feel stronger than ever, because I understand the value in small goals accomplished over time leading to success. My education provided the foundation for my faith in setting milestones.

As you look at your life and the setbacks, struggles, and wins, I hope you’ll find the courage to see what successful changes you can incorporate in your life.

Let’s start by asking a simple question:

What changes would you like to make?

Instead of writing impossible lists of changes, start with one. I encourage my clients to focus on one behavior: like changing an attitude, a behavior, or a thought. The other two patterns will follow suit. Change ignites change.

Physical change or intellectual change increases your self-confidence. By expanding your intellectual horizons, you’ll become a more interesting person full of ideas to converse about with others.

You can ignite your passion and experience into a more vibrant existence by making changes, starting right now. Below are six different ways you can embolden your life.

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Health matters

Pay special attention to your health. Revitalize by eating well, exercising to your best ability, and getting proper sleep. It means to brush your teeth and floss, comb/brush your hair, keep it trimmed and clean, and shower regularly to clean your skin. Creams for dry skin are helpful and can keep you feeling younger. When you start feeling more beautiful, you’ll boost your self-confidence.

Let yourself get excited about the changes you’re making regarding your body and overall health.

Read, read, and read some more.

Although you may prefer different activities, reading is one pastime which expands your mind in many ways. Focus on reading about topics you enjoy or want to learn more about.

If you love to travel, read travel guides and stories set in the places you’d like to visit.
If you adore your dog, read about the breed, dog training techniques, and how to care for your pooch’s health.
Once a month, check out a new book from the library or peruse Barnes & Noble and see if there is a new book that strikes your curiosity.
Step out of your usual genre and expand your mind.

Expanding your intellectual horizons will help you become a more interesting person who has plenty of things to converse about with others.

Date night

Each week, have a date with the love of your life. Dates are meant to enhance your closeness and make your relationship stronger.

They also add an element of fun to your partnership. Make sure you set aside your phone, limit interactions with others, and don’t talk about work. Spend some time focusing on each other so you can bond and engage. Relationships will last when you put some time into each other.

Whether it’s a Tuesday evening pizza and movie at home, or a Saturday night dinner followed by dancing, spend special time each week with your partner.
Ignite the fires of passion and change your lives for the better.

Priorities matter

Set priorities and keep them straight. For example, if your priorities are family, work, and self, be sure to consider each one when you’re making decisions. The key is to be aware of your priorities. If you allow work to enter your home and invade your time with your family, you’ll lose out on connection and emotional bonding.

Make work time separate from family time. If you don’t allow your brain a timeout from work, you’ll burn out. Your family needs you to be present. It’s challenging to release work, especially if your whole life is bound by a career you love. Often, people will cut the time so sharply they end up going back to the old ways. If you have some serious enmeshment issues with your partner, work, and life goals you’ll need to start slowly and pick something you know you can change and make the shift. Use the priorities below to prioritize your life.

Start this year by behaving in ways that demonstrate your priorities.
Maintain your focus on what’s important to you throughout the year.
When your existence matches your priorities, you’ll be more passionate about what you’re doing at home, in the workplace, and on your own.

Try something new

This year, do something you haven’t done before. Nothing gets the juices flowing like engaging in a novel activity. Covid has made traveling challenging this year, however, maybe you can plan a small trip on a long weekend somewhere you have dreamed of visiting.Or, if things settle, see if you can finally take a ten-day trip to Europe.

Maybe your new experience will be something you’ve wanted to do for years or perhaps it’s something you’ve just decided to explore.
Find small towns with coffee shops to visit, if you love coffee.
Look for antique shops and spend an afternoon exploring.
A museum, library, or art gallery might provide you something to focus on and think about history.

Work efforts

Put your best foot forward at work. If you’ve reached the point where you’re bored with work, it’s up to you to spice it up. Strive to excel at your job this year. Volunteer for a new project, take on an undesirable task, or simply expand your efforts each day.

Sometimes we get bored with the same old routines, however, you can direct your thoughts and make a game out of the routines. See if you can speed up your times while still maintaining quality or practice typing faster by timing yourself on the handy timer on your phone.

Skip the gossip sessions at the water cooler. Offer extra help to your supervisor when they look like they could use it.
Check-in with co-workers or colleagues rather than expecting them to check in on you.
Document your efforts and when the chance for a promotion arises, step up. Be confident and let the boss know why you’re the best person for the job.

In sum:

As you can see, some of the simple steps in life are a movement toward healthy, productive change. We don’t have to settle in life for the boring, same protocol. At every turn, you can change up your mindset. Your best life is about giving you an edge with a positive, focused direction. One of my friends stated, “Happy New Year!” and I said “Happy Another Year!” which means to accept another year has passed and not much has changed with the dawning of a new date.

Every year we are alive is a potential for showing our inner person we can grow, expand, and change our mindsets. People set unrealistic resolutions to no avail. Two weeks later they are binge-watching shows rather than tackling the chores they said they’d keep up with or they slacked off at work because no one recognized their two-week shift. Whether you get praise or not isn’t the point, it is about making lasting changes for a healthier, balanced you.

Do everything you can to live your best life, starting now. You’ll soon discover you are feeling more vibrant, interested, and passionate in all parts of your life. The personal changes I made last year have lasted and the best ones help me continue to be my best self.

The steps above are the ones I am implementing so I can rise above the routines and hone in on my passion for life. No matter what comes my way, choosing to find the detours, adventures, and challenges will continue to make my “Another Year!” fantastic.

~Just a thought by Pamela

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Reference:

Haber S.N. (2011.). Neuroanatomy of reward: A view from the ventral striatum. In: Gottfried JA, editor. Neurobiology of Sensation and Reward. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press/Taylor & Francis; Chapter 11. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92777/

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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