New Year Resolutions
Contributed by Jason Goldsmith
This year I’ll lose all this weight. This year I’ll spend more time with family. This year I’ll make more friends. This year I’ll act my age. This year I’ll be different. Let’s be honest with ourselves; What is the likelihood we will make a huge change in ourselves this year? People can’t change? Many of us forget what it is like to make real change in our lives. When we were young and small, we were in a constant state of change. We became larger, faster and smarter as the days go on. We were constantly learning new things. How to walk, jump and run. How to read, write and think. What happened to our ability to look forward to the change with eyes open in wonder. Many of us become focused on disappointment, however and lose our forward momentum as things become more and more difficult. It becomes easy to focus upon what we believe to be failings.
We often set ourselves up for failure by creating a sense of false expectations. Meaning, we often tell ourselves change must be drastic, immediate and show instant results. I should lose 10lbs. in the first week, right? Wrong! True and lasting change happens gradually over time as we build new habits to replace old maladaptive ones.
The first thing to remember is to make a plan with a clear goal. I want to reduce my weight to something healthier. The next step might be to stay away from fads and consult your doctor to see what a healthy change might look like and an example of what steady stable change might look like for you specifically. Keep reminding yourself of the old “tortoise and hare” cartoons, slow and steady wins the race!
When creating change there is a good rule to remember. A perfect monk might take up to 4 weeks to learn a new behavior and initiate change. The average individual might take 2 to 3 months. If you’re anything like me (stubborn and pig headed) it may take 6 to 12 months. These are some statistics to remember when you look in the mirror and ask why you haven’t lost 20lbs. in two days. Be good and kind to yourself and others but above all, be honest.
Welcome to the New Year from the staff here at HOW! For more tips and skills for change, feel free to contact us. Here at HOW, we would like to make ourselves available to you in answering some of your questions and concerns. Please contact us, and we will reply in the next edition, or directly, while keeping you anonymous. We look forward to hearing from you.
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