Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she began to fly
Have you made any resolutions for 2015?
Now is the time to look back on the year just passed, and to reflect on the things we’ve done, the things we wish we’d done, and the things we want to do, right? And so many of us feel the pressure to make resolutions that we sometimes know we aren’t going to keep. So how do we actually make some changes in our lives that enable us to fly? We start small. Here is our quick guide to achieving a new you this year: three little ways to start the year right.
Don’t get hung up on resolutions
Some people make them, keep them and love them. Some people make them, break them and hate them. Some people never make them and see no need to make changes in their lives. Others still never make them, but make changes or set realistic goals that they can achieve instead. Any of those ways is right. If you want to make resolutions, don’t let anyone scoff at your good intentions. But if you don’t want to make resolutions, or they haven’t worked for you in the past, why not try a different approach this year?
Write a list of all the things that you want to change in your life this year. Then eliminate the ones you know you won’t manage, no matter how hard you try. When you have your list, think of ways that you can achieve the goal in a more simple way.
For example, if you want to get fit this year, don’t resolve to join a gym you’ll resent paying membership for. Instead, start out with a walk a day, progress to a run perhaps and then enquire about a local fitness class. Small steps go a long way to achieve your goal. Another popular resolution tends to be to lose weight and/ or eat better in the new year. This is a great resolution! Again, it will only work if you approach it with baby steps. Don’t spend a fortune on an expensive kitchen gadget that you won’t use after a couple of months. Make small changes to your diet that you can sustain. Swap bread for a healthier alternative. Add a juice a day to your diet. Explore new foods. Make healthy eating a way of life, rather than a resolution.
Love the life you have
It’s easy to get to the new year and think that you want to make lots of changes to be better, happier or more content. But if you really want to make a change, why not resolve to be happy? Accept the life you have, and see it in all it’s glory, rather than try to change it. Here are some small ways that you can achieve this:
- Like yourself. No, scrub that- LOVE yourself. If you don’t regard yourself highly, nobody else will! Write a list of your good points and read it regularly to remind yourself how amazing you are.
- Remember that you ARE enough. If you believe this, you will believe in your ability to be who you want to be. And when you believe you can be who you want to be, you might just find you have been that person all along.
- Look for the good in your life (and in others) and stop focusing on the bad. The ‘bad’ may not be quite as awful as you thought, and it’s the little things that make you who you are.
- Slow down. Don’t rush through life at 100 miles an hour. Take the time to stop and appreciate all that you have.
- Focus on how life feels rather than how it looks. If it feels right, who cares how it looks to others?
- Be YOU. Don’t try to change how you think or how you look, or how you live. You are that caterpillar who is really a butterfly and it’s up to you to love that.
Let go of the bad stuff
As one year ends, many of us stagger to the finish line with bags full of rubbish. Things we’ve done ‘wrong’ things we’ve ‘failed to achieve’, broken dreams, shattered goals. And as the new year begins, it’s time to dump all of that and wipe the slate clean. Resolve to be happy. Resolve to care less about the things you didn’t get right, and focus on the things you can (and will) get right instead. Let go of the things that hold you back, make you unhappy and cause you pain. These are our top ten bags of rubbish to get rid of:
- Worry. Worrying is pointless; it is much healthier to act upon the things you can change and forget about the things that are beyond your control.
- Regrets. Accept that some things happened and that is the way of life. Move on, and make new resolves to live your life the way you want to.
- Guilt. Never feel guilty for doing the things you enjoy or the things that make you happy.
- Blame. There’s no point finding or apportioning blame for things that have happened. Accept what is done, deal with it and move on.
- Saying yes. Sometimes you need to put YOU first and stop saying yes.
- Saying no. Sometimes the biggest adventures start with three little words- don’t stop yourself from living your life a little differently now and then.
- Anger. There is a time and a place, so focus your energy on deciding what you really need to get cross about. Unnecessary anger leads to unwanted negativity and stress.
- Self hate. Don’t feel you need to be someone else, or do something else. Remember that it’s good to be you.
- Fear. Only fearful people fail to realise their dreams.
- Envy. Stop thinking that everyone else is better, happier or more content than you. They might just be looking at you and thinking the same thing.
Happy new year!
