A Better Way to Resolve

/

It’s resolution season. Whether you make them this time of year, throughout the year or not at all, there is something to be said for making CHANGE. And there is a better way to do it.

The name of my company was / is (I haven’t fully ditched it, despite using my own name more dominantly) The Change Training. Because I believe that change is the only constant, it happens no matter what, and it’s best to get behind the wheel and learn how to steer your change. I want to write about the most important part of steering your change.

Typically, when people want change it comes from a negative place. Feeling groggy or heavy perhaps, maybe feeling overfat. Maybe it’s simply being too self-critical, or feeling low in confidence. A lack of strength. Either way, getting healthier does help all of these things, but I don’t believe reflecting on the negative feelings and / or habits is the best way to go about it.

It is the season of “no more bread!” or “no more booze!” or “no more sugar!”

So here’s the thing. There is NO SHAME in wanting to feel better. You have every right to acknowledge that you’re feeling uncomfortable, and to want to make the most of your time in this life. The self-love movement has gotten to a place where we sometimes feel like we can’t so much as mention fat loss or physical motivations. But how you feel in your body affects how you feel in your life, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with being honest with yourself about that. You have the right to feel better. To feel more comfortable, stronger and better aligned. Health resolutions are great. Of course they are! Because getting stronger and healthier can have the biggest return on investment you will ever experience in this life.

You do NOT have to get there by dwelling on your habits that got you feeling uncomfortable in the first place. You do not have to list off all of the things that you’ve been overdoing (overeating, overdrinking, overlazy-ing- whatever they may be) in order to make change. You certainly don’t have to say anything negative about yourself in the process. In fact, I prefer you wouldn’t. Real self love is being honest, and then looking at opportunity to be feel your best.

Fill up your time and your headspace on listing off the feelings that you want to move into. A stronger core, better posture, a clearer mind, and importantly - higher confidence. List off the benefits that getting healthier will bring to your life.

If you spend more time focusing on what you’re cutting out, and feeling badly about past behaviour, it won’t leave you the energy and the brainspace to keep all the wonderful reasons for getting healthier to strongly move you forward toward it.

This year, why don’t you try the following:

Write a very honest list about all the positive outcomes you will experience from getting healthier.

Ditch the list about what to ditch, there won’t even be room to worry about it and to add that ounce of discouragement to soil up your path. (Discouragement is the number one thing that will slow you down - I’ve seen this thousands of times in my work.)

Write down everything you are about to gain.

  • a clearer head, more energy

  • fresh, clear skin

  • the confidence and self belief to go after more

  • more supple joints, more mobile days

  • more happiness, purely

  • the strength to squat down with and lift up your child

  • the energy to partake in more recreational activities outdoors

  • the peace of mind of warding off illness

  • the peace of mind of warding off debilitating injury

  • compassion and spreading more positivity (for real, it does this well!)

  • setting a wonderful example for those around you

  • fitting better in all of your clothes - yes, you’re allowed to be excited about that!

There is nothing more exciting than this kind of change. These kinds of outcomes. I’m sure you can add dozens of things specific to you to this list.

You only live once, as far as we know. You deserve to get the very most out of this life. Stop feeling badly, stop being hard on yourself. There’s no need to cut so much out when you are adding so much good stuff in - it will sidle out that which no longer serves you much more efficiently than your feeling badly about it.

Happy 2021, I wish you the very, very best for this upcoming year.

I think we are going to see some big surges in creativity, in resilience, in quality of time among our communities after such a hard 2020. I love you.