We’ve all had the best intentions January 1st—to go to the gym, to stop eating sweets, to mediate more, to learn a new language, to spend more time with the family. But for many of us, that resolution doesn’t make it to December 31st. We’re only human, after all!
So how can you keep the momentum going with your New Year’s resolution this year?
Focus on what to do, not what you want
If your resolution is to “get healthier,” great! But that’s not very specific. To get started:
- Clarify what the resolution means. Maybe that involves improving your mood, losing weight, or cutting the junk food, or all three!
- Find the actions that you can take. Perhaps that means getting your baseline health measurements. Perhaps it’s reading a nutrition book. Or maybe it’s going to the gym three times a week. Once you find a way to turn your resolution into behaviors or actions steps, you’ll find it’s (a little) easier to hold yourself accountable.
Short-term process over long-term progress
Thinking of that big end goal can be very daunting. That can lead to stress and anxiety, which oftentimes sets us back from our goal instead of helping us move forward!
Focus on the process and steps required to get to where you want to go, instead of on the goal itself. For example, it’s far easier (and more self-affirming) to focus and congratulate yourself for going to the gym three times a week than by focusing on your target goal weight or the vague concept of “healthier.”
When you can break your behavior down into smaller chunks of time and be present to the process of what your doing, you’ll feel more empowered while still making progress and likely enjoying the challenge.
Check-in constantly
The best way to evaluate whether your process is working or not is to keep track. Perhaps you find that you don’t get to the gym as much as you’d like because you sleep in frequently. Once you know what’s making your process (and progress) difficult to achieve, you can adjust either the process or your routine to keep yourself on track.
In this example, maybe that means getting to bed earlier.
How Gracey Holistic Health can help
While we can’t help you with every New Year’s resolution, the most popular resolutions focus on health and well-being. Gracey Holistic Health focuses on healing the body, mind, and spirit. With health and lifestyle coaching, we can help you plan out how to reach that resolution. And with offices in Belmont and Brookline, we’re always close by if you need help getting back and staying on track.