If you’re anything like me, you’ve already noticed the adverts on-line, in your social media feeds and everywhere you look around starting a diet, joining a gym, or a fitness class, or making big changes to your life.
These have come on the back of Christmas, where ‘real life’ is suspended for a few days (or even weeks), you don’t quite know whether you’re coming or going, and you can get swept up into the new years resolutions and this year being the year that you do, well, whatever you’ve said you’ll do for years!
Anecdotally, 80% of resolutions have failed by the end of January, because we want to make big changes but maybe don’t know how to start, or going to the gym when it’s dark and cold outside, but that new show is on Netflix in the warmth, well it’s not tempting.
Instead, why not press pause? Ignore the noises about creating a ‘new and better you’. Rather than set goals, intentions, resolutions, whatever word works for you, take 5 minutes, find somewhere quiet, and write down all the good things about you and your life; maybe add things that you’re grateful for. For example, I’m calm under pressure, I have a roof over my head and I have enough coffee to get me through January!
Take this seriously but also have a bit of fun with it. You can do this on a piece of paper, make something beautiful on Canva; the aim is to have one page, that you can see every day, that is positive and reminds you of all the good things in your life right now. You can, of course, add to it at any time.
If you find this really tough, then write something you like doing, such as a hobby, or if you have a pet, that you provide a safe home for them to live in.
And that’s it! No big goal setting, no big changes, just looking at yourself slightly differently. I’d love for you to share how you’ve got on – what did you enjoy about this; what did you find hard?