New Year's Resolutions That Will Improve Your Life
As the year 2020 begins, people are very into debating whether it’s the start of the second decade of the 21st Century, or if in fact, that doesn’t happen until the end of the year? Rather than wrapping head-space and time around the question of when the decade begins, many people feel that in this tumultuous world, where rapid-change is now the norm, human beings must continually strive to keep reinventing themselves, to achieve a fully-lived, healthy, vital, purpose-driven, pain-free existence. Often, at the start of a new year, substantive change is begun with the creation of New Year’s Resolutions, designed to fine-tune what it is, about one’s self, and their life, that can be restructured to improve happiness, health and the quality of living. “Resolution-izing” is the personal action taken to lessen human failings, by admitting personal responsibility for faults, bad habits, negative thinking, and the lack of attention paid to health and happiness; while continuing to be fully engaged in achieving financial stability, strong relationships and success.
Self-Reflection – Growth from Within
Human growth, progression, and on-going reinvention are natural. It is true that many intrinsic characteristics can’t be altered completely, such as being shy and introvertive, or an over-committed workhorse, or perfectionist. Yet research completed by Duke University has shown that 40% of the actions taken daily are habitual, rather than conscious thought, and can be identified, altered, strengthened or restructured with positive results. Anyone with strong motivation, who authentically transforms negative, habitual actions, into positivity, can succeed by creating new behaviors which are thought driven, and focus on the specific changes that need to happen to secure the full-on, happiness, and the healthy personal growth necessary to thrive. It isn’t easy to break habits, however, believing that change can and does happen, is a huge first step in crafting resolutions which will work to achieve specific goals. Identifying the behaviors that need to change necessitates taking the time for self-reflection and exercising emotional intelligence to increase awareness of what actions have to be tweaked or abandoned in order to improve the quality of life. Understanding how your feelings affect your behavior, and seeking to have more patience, perspective, and empathy, with yourself, helps to be one of the 20% whose resolutions succeed, not the over 100 million plus, who quit within the first 30 days of the new year.
Full-On Resolutions – Sculpting a Life-Style Work of Art (You)
A desire to live an improved life fully, doesn’t mean that the “resolutionist” needs to learn to swim with whales, bungee jump, do planks for longer than sixty seconds, like Cher, or deep-sea dive for sunken treasure, unless those goals are desirable. What it does mean is that making the conscious choice to live a focused life which is personally designed to achieve desired goals, and expelling the energy, self-interest, and ongoing effort to enhance or create a greater degree of health, happiness and fulfilment, puts the achievable challenge in your capable hands.
The New Year, 2020, is filled with what has never been, and infinite possibilities. Scripting a list of resolution activities for improvement that will enhance the quality of your life could include the following:
- Move – Find physical activity to enjoy. Walk, jog, bike, hike, play an enjoyable sport for a sustainable and on-going amount of time.
- Be Grateful. Appreciate the people, and experiences you take for granted. Say grace and know that even negative events are an opportunity to learn from and be more wise.
- Read – Not a set number of books, but books that challenge and entertain, enlighten and inspire. (Audio books count too). Make the time.
- Limit Screen Time – Reduce the time spent scrolling, texting and on social media. Engage with family, friends, and colleagues, in real time. Find a balance between tech and authentic living.
- Practice Self-Care – Set aside meaningful “me moments” to enjoy yourself, be silly, relax, daydream, listen to music, or enjoy your favorite cuisine. Break up the routine with activity that recharge.
- Spend quality time with each one of your children – Let them know you, warts and all, and show them the unconditional love you feel for them. (yes, the grown kids too)
- Take Vacations – See the world, or as much of your own hometown and the surrounds, or stay-cations work too, downtime is priceless.
- Increase Kindness – Share more smiles, be generous even in small ways, give those who are negative toward you, and help those in need.
- Choose an Activity Outside of Your Comfort Zone – Doing new activities which are unfamiliar, learning new skills, garners more creativity, productivity and flexibility to meet challenges in life.
- Eat Whole Foods Daily – Adding fruits, grains and veggies until it’s a norm, knowing the nutrients in each bite enhance your body function, and health.
- Be More Present – Distractions like cell phones and the internet, too much work and worry can train the brain to require these negatives, making it hard to connect to family and retime life.
- Spend More Time on Personal Well Being – Treat your injuries and pain and relieve stress with natural healing techniques like the Body Comfort hot and cold packs. Take them anywhere and relax.
The List of R’s and the Y?
Finally, the list of resolutions has been written, built on honesty, self-knowledge, ego-reduction, and an immense desire to achieve the goals sculpted to benefit yourself. Now for the reality of it. Thought, effort, hours and self-refection went into it, now its time to take actions that will produce the results you seek. Nothing happens overnight. Too much thinking and stressing over making changes will increase tension, if you let it. Change will come over-time, not overnight, and acceptance of this fact leads to genuine lasting progress. If attempts to change occasionally fail, keep on keeping on. Learn from the failure, chart the progress made, forgive yourself and proceed. Making goals very specific, by knowing the “why” that led you to resolve to engage in change, is a huge tool for successful results. Staying motivated is another crucial tool on this path to life improvement. Having a support system of family, good friends, your significant other, colleagues, or online, through like-minded resolutioner’s, who respond positively to your Facebook or other posts, keeps your motivation and resolve strong. Remember, “if you are persistent you will reach your goals. If you are consistent, your progress will be lasting.”
