For some, New Year’s Resolutions are an uplifting, galvanising force, whilst for others, they’re more of a hindrance than a help, and simply leave us feeling wanting, incomplete and dissatisfied.
With that in mind, here’s five solid strategies from Johdi Woodford, a Restorative Movement Specialist for women over 40, to flip the script on your negative emotions around this topic and get into a good mood about this watershed moment that we experience each and every year.
Focus on what you want
Ask yourself, how do I want to feel this time next year? How do I want to look? What do I want my outlook on life to be like come 2023? What do I want to have stopped or given up? What do I want to have started? Grab a piece of paper and write down your answers. Take your time drilling down into your answers here because what you’re doing is eliminating whimsy and fluff and tapping into your deep, subconscious motivators.
Find your why
Now that you have some concrete objectives in place, that are based on your unique emotional, context, lean into the reasons for wanting to look, feel and be as you’ve outlined in step 1. Ask yourself why these things are important to you. Ask yourself who else benefits from you reaching these goals. How does life change a year from now and you look back on your progress through 2022? And delve into why that matters to you.
Break it down into baby steps
Ask yourself, what single action do I have to take every day, every week and every month to make these goals happen? What’s the one thing that will move the needle forwards for me? Remember, you have a whole year to cultivate these goals, so don’t go at yourself like fury for a few weeks, or months, and then wonder why you still feel dissatisfied at how little progress you’ve made. Instead, like the Tortoise in that well-known Aesop’s Fable, go at a deliberate pace and you’ll win the race.
Tap into how you feel
Wearable technology can seem like such a friend when you want to know how many steps you’ve done, or how many calories are really in that bagel you’re eyeing, but, with the growing role of metrics, data and information in our lives, everywhere we look seems to scream at us just how many missed opportunities we’ve had to improve ourselves. This is not only invasive, but also contributes to goal fatigue and that’s not only detrimental to your mental health, but it will also undermine your objective-achieving endeavours. A healthier way to go is to refer to Step 1 and tap into how you want to look, feel and be. These emotional biomarkers will give you a much more humane and holistic gauge of how you’re doing.
Be kind
You can tell yourself that you’ll do the punishing, cardio routine that sculpted that famous super model’s body. You can swear that not a morsel of chocolate will pass your lips until you’ve reached your hallowed goal weight, but you’ll be totally dependent on your will power. Studies show that will power doesn’t work to get or keep you motivated and moving forward. What you want to do instead, is tap into the positive emotions associated with Self Esteem and Self Worth. Remind yourself what you want from the outline you created in Step 1, and then go a step further by reminding yourself that you are worth the time and effort that you are putting into yourself.
These five simple and actionable strategies transform your New Year’s Resolutions into a helpful map to follow, rather than an unattainable list of goals that leave you hamstrung and hung up to dry until 2023 rolls around! Refer to them regularly throughout the year too, and they’ll prove to be an infinitely more powerful system than the usual hasty, time-sensitive nod to what everyone else says you should be doing.
