NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS

With the main Christmas ‘festivities’ complete, we turn our heads to the New Year as we pack away the decorations and eat those leftover chocolates from the bottom of the celebrations tin; perhaps looking nostalgically at the year gone by, or with happiness at the prospect of a new beginning. One thing is for sure though, it is a time where the majority of people take out their notepads and start to list down their New Year’s Resolutions with all good intentions of seeing them through (me being one of those people). New Year’s resolutions are a funny thing; if I am being completely honest with myself I tend to make them knowing full well I probably won’t see them through – yet I still sit there every 31^stDecember asking those around me what I can do to improve myself when the clock strikes midnight. I go for all the usuals: eat healthier, go to the gym more, drink less wine… it got me thinking: surely there are better ways we can use the New Year and the notion of resolutions to make positive changes to ourselves, without feeling like we have let ourselves down when come January 5^th I’m half way through a glass of wine and I’ve not stepped foot in a gym?

Be realistic  

The best thing to do when making New Year’s Resolutions is to be realistic. It is no good setting yourself a task that is utterly unobtainable even with the most will power in the world; if you want to lose weight, set yourself the task of improving your diet to lead a healthier life, don’t note down that you want to have lost 5 stone by tomorrow morning. All that happens in these instances is you become infatuated on the achievements you don’t make, as opposed to the ones you do. Though weight loss is an extremely common New Year’s Resolutions (chosen by around 45% of people according to Statista), I personally don’t see it as a sensible or worthwhile choice. Take the chance to make improvements to your lifestyle, become more active, improve your diet, get more sleep; as these are likely to make you feel far more positive than jumping on the scales each week.

Give it some consideration

One of the things I have tried to do this year is give my resolutions some consideration; often I choose them when I’m one glass (or maybe two) of champagne in on New Year’s Eve as it’s suddenly dawned on me that the opportunity to reinvent myself has come around. By allowing myself time to consider them, I am able to set myself targets that are obtainable. It doesn’t matter if they don’t seem as worthy as those of the person sat next to me; for me, they are and will help me to make positive changes to my life.

Make positive change in other ways 

There are many other things you can do in the New Year to make positive changes to your lifestyle; why not donate some of your time to a local charity and become a volunteer, or donate a small fee each month to a cause that is close to your heart? By getting involved in worthy causes or things that you care about, you will feel like you are spending your time wisely which is bound to keep you feeling positive all year around; it could be as simple as joining and supporting the PTA at the school or offering to support a family member in their work. These small changes won’t only make you feel good, they’ll make the people you are supporting feel good too!

New Year’s Resolutions can often have a positive impact on people’s lives and wellbeing, by making realistic resolutions that you truly believe you can follow, it will have a such positive impact on you and the way you feel on the inside. I’m still considering my resolutions for this year, but I do know that one of them is going to be to take up my morning runs again – but only three times a week, as I know this is an achievable amount that will have an impact on my fitness and my mental health. And hey, if one of your resolutions involves spending more time with the people you love doing the things you enjoy, why not get in touch with us here at TBM and see how we can help…