Tuesday, January 10, 2017

The Problem with New Year's Resolutions (and the solution!)



The problem with New Year's Resolutions (and the solution!)

Happy 2017! I realize I am a little late with this blog about New Year's Resolutions, but that's okay!

I am not a big resolution person - I don't like the pressure of committing to making big changes for an entire year. Not to mention, that I know resolutions almost never work. I do like to think about my wishes and hopes for the new year, and the idea of a fresh start is exciting. One thing I love about the new year is buying a new planner, looking through it and filling it up with appointments and plans. There's something exciting about looking to the year ahead!

Given my aversion to resolutions, however, there are things in my life I would like to improve upon. As a yoga teacher, one of my goals is a daily yoga and meditation practice (right now, it's almost every day). I would like to eat more vegetables too and just take more time for myself. As a working mom, I don't put myself at the top of my list as much as I should.

I stumbled upon an article (posted below) about why resolutions don't work and how to fix them, and it really aligns with my own philosophy. The article talks about 'being' the person that makes good choices. Rather than saying, "I want to eat better" or "I want to be more organized" change your identity into the person who eats better or is more organized. How do you change your identify? It starts with visualizing yourself as that person. The change needs to come from the inside out. See yourself doing it and then do it! Here's a quote from the article:

"Your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity. What you do now is a mirror image of the type of person you believe that you are (either consciously or subconsciously).
To change your behavior for good, you need to start believing new things about yourself."
https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/how-to-fix-new-years-resolutions/

This makes me think of one of my favorite quotes from Mahatma Gandhi, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Don't make resolutions - resolve to be the person you want to be!