How to make this your happiest year yet
There’s nothing like a new year to refresh your attitude to being healthy and happy. So while we’re nearly at the end of January now, it’s never to late too set yourself on new path. Whether your goal is to lose weight, get fit or give up a vice, these tips will help you stick to it whatever you choose to take on…
Choose something meaningful
Connect your goals to something personally meaningful to you. There’s no point deciding you’re going to lose weight just because the TV is full of diet adverts shaming you into it. You’re far more likely to stay on track with goals when they’re important to you. Have you had a health scare and want to be in the best shape you can be? Do you have a special occasion you want to look amazing for? Do you need more energy and suspect your lifestyle isn’t helping?
Your goal needs to be tangible to you. Envisage the healthier you – the you in a dress size smaller at your special occasion or having energy to get out and do more. Forget the models in the media and the general expectation to lose weight in January. This needs to be about you, personally, to have any staying power.
Do the opposite of what you normally do
Never stick to your new year’s resolutions? Then don’t keep making the same mistakes. Like a muscle, your resolve can be strengthened over time and with practice. The more often you resist that piece of cake or cigarette, the easier it will become. Don’t give up if by January 12 you’ve already had a few wobbles. Give yourself time to learn this new skill of resistance, and assess your progress each month rather than each day.
If you’re struggling to stick to your guns, try this: if you’re right-handed, brush your teeth or open doors with your left hand (and vice versa). You’ll soon find it becomes second nature to you, and so can resisting those temptations.
Choose a reward in advance
Yes, yes, yes, we’ve all been told a million times that exercise releases feel-good hormones and makes you feel great. But what if it, well, doesn’t? Actually doing exercise, like sticking to a diet, can be hard when we just don’t feel like it. So promise yourself a little treat, whether it’s a movie or an hour on the sofa with a good book, and keep the reward in mind when you’re lacing up your runners and getting out there.
Fake it til you make it, and before you know it, exercise – or whatever it is you’re trying to stick to – will get easier and more enjoyable until you might find yourself actually looking forward to it for its own rewards.
Let it go
One of the single biggest obstacles we come across in sticking to a healthier lifestyle is falling off the wagon and feeling you therefore can’t get back on again, that you’ve failed.
So what if you give in to temptation or even have a blowout and throw all your hard work away? Start again. Get back on the horse and remember that sometimes you will take two steps forward and one step back. Accept it, don’t beat yourself up about it. Let it go! Move on.
But be sure to take note of why you succumbed, where your weak points are and what you can do to reduce the risk of you making the same mistake again.