With the New Year comes the most common question, “What is your New Year’s Resolution?” Most of us respond with a new eating or exercise regimen especially if we received that long awaited gift from the holidays meant to aid it such as that new blender or exercise machine. While these are great aspirations to begin the new year with, many times we may find that these new healthy habits can become harder and harder to keep up with as the weeks and months go by.
Whether you are making a resolution to resolve a problem in your life that needs fixing or simply adapting a great new habit for self-improvement here are 7 support systems you can utilize:
Set Your Goal Time: Realistic goals help us to stay on track and gives us the confidence that we need to accomplish what we set out to do. For example, if your resolution is to lose 50lbs by the end of the year it can seem daunting, however, setting mini goals can really help. Take that 50 and divide it by how many weeks in the year (52). It looks like you’ll have to lose less than 1lb each week in order reach your goal. Oh, doesn’t it seem so minute? Yet, before you know it, you will have lost 10lbs in no time. They key is in utilizing a daily regimen that will keep you focused.
Daily Schedule: One thing for certain that we all do daily is sleep. Many of us have an entire ritual where we bathe and brush teeth before going to bed. Our new healthy habit should take on a similar routine depending on what it is. For example, your New Year’s resolution is to operate on a clear and balanced mind. You’ve learned that journaling and meditation will help accomplish this. One of the best times for journaling is about 30 minutes before going to bed. This gives you the option to dump your day’s events, emotions, worries and more on that paper. For meditation the best time to do so is upon waking up after taking your shower and brushing your teeth. You can wake up 30 minutes earlier than usual to get that time in. Set your intention and accept that your mind is clear and balanced. This example of a daily regimen ensures you have time to give your goal the positive energy boost it needs.
Family: It always feels good when you have those living with you as your best cheerleaders rooting you on in making the best healthy decisions of your life. It feels even greater when they all agree to join in. For example, you may be at risk of having diabetes or knew someone who has passed due to complications from the disease. So you all agree to make the collective resolution to eat healthier with one of the first steps being to drop excess carbs (which turns into excess sugar in the blood). You can have contests to see who can come up with the best recipes for low carb dinner options that taste the bomb where everyone looks forward to eating your food. Who doesn’t love some good tasting food that will also keep you healthy?! Not to mention this is also great for family bonding.
Accountability Partner: Friends/Partners can also play that role to help you stay up on keeping your new healthy habit resolution. Similar to how the previously mentioned family support works both of you can keep each other in check. For example, you ladies or gents may agree to stay fit and get your cardio health up. One way you can do this is to join a Zumba class together. It’s fun whether or not you have dance skills and it will definitely keep you on your toes.
Seeing Yourself With Your Desired Result: Most successful people you know have utilized this method as a way to keep themselves on track to accomplishing their goals. Being able to utilize your imagination to see yourself with your end goal is a great way to stay focused. If your goal is to lose weight, keep imagining what you look like at your desired weight. Imagine the scale reading your desired numbers correctly. Imagine that dress or suit you’ve always wanted to wear fitting you so perfectly and how great you feel! You can utilize the example meditation and journaling time previously mentioned in your daily schedule to do this.
Forgive Yourself: If you make a mistake or fall off track you can always get back on. We are not a robots, therefore we are not always perfect in what we do! If you are really serious you will do what you can to ensure you meet your goal which includes getting back on track if you miss or forget to do something. You will feel so proud when you have reached your goal. What seemed almost impossible at first became a positive habit which turned out to be easier than you think!
Embrace Your Victories: Remember, always congratulate yourself on the little things you accomplished. If you found that perfect recipe you and your family loves that will keep you all healthy, embrace it! If you managed to keep up better in Zumba class for a longer time, embrace it! If you successfully kept off those 3lbs in your weight loss journey, embrace it! If you woke up on time for daily meditation and was able to focus just a few minutes more than before, embrace it!
Remember to stay active in your self-care!
Much Love,
*~Netert Aset~*
Which support system(s) will you be using to keep up with your new healthy habit?
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