Statistics show that most New Year’s Resolutions have already been broken.
We begin, determined to exercise more, eat less sugar and move toward new goals – then something happens. We realize how much we don’t WANT to change. Or we finally accept the fact that change requires some stretching and sometimes stretching hurts.
Rather than focus on resolutions, let’s pare the subject down to More and Less. Then, to make it even easier to manage – let’s focus on just one month – February.
This is how it works…
During February, I want to do MORE:
- More exercise / week – any type of movement counts as exercise. Even walking in place while you’re watching TV is a type of exercise. Parking farther out in the parking lot and walking the increased distance counts as more exercise.
- More fun activities – schedule fun into your life by including it on your planner or weekly events page. Set a timer on your phone, “Go browse through a consignment shop.” Determine to color on a certain day of the week. Take yourself to a movie and yes – buy the popcorn. Find time in February to do something fun.
- More inner reflection – we can all learn from listening to our inner Spirit and spending more time with inner reflection. Journal more frequently. It doesn’t have to be every day, but how about once / week – maybe on Sundays? Write down how you want 2016 to look, what some of your visions are for this year and how you will feel when you see those visions come to pass.
Check out this website which gives you a daily devotion: http://www.daily-devotions.net/. As we focus on the inner self, think about what the Bible teaches about the spiritual life and how important it is for our total health.
Think about the things you want to focus MORE on during February. Then take a look at the things you want to do LESS of in February.
- Less sugar – most of us can eliminate a bit of sugar from our diets without feeling deprived. February is a difficult month to consider this idea – with all the Valentine’s candy in the stores. But we can save one day of the month for our sugar and chocolate fix, then determine to eat less during the other days of February.
- Less negative self-talk – it’s easy to mentally put ourselves down, especially using those negative shoulds. “I should have been more effective at that meeting.” “I should have paid more attention to my children / my spouse / my family.” “I should have been a better housekeeper, cook, teacher….”
Mental put-downs often focus on past behaviors and keep us from moving forward. We feel paralyzed in the fears that we’re going to repeat bad choices and everything will turn out awful. Not true.
We can turn the negative self-talk into something positive by admitting, “I am enough.” “I am not responsible for how other people think.” “I’m doing the best I can today as I let go of the past.”
Sometimes we need help with those negative voices. At GateWay of Hope, we have counseling, coaching and support groups to help you move past those lies and focus on the truth.
- Less stress – by setting boundaries, we can eliminate some of the “I should do this” activities in our lives and focus on what is really important to us. In the More list, we included more fun activities. We can’t have that fun if we’re stressed out with too many activities. Attend a “Boundaries” class at GateWay, order one of the Cloud and Townsend books and begin to set healthier limits around your life.
Try the More and Less goal-setting plan for the month of February. Then let us know if we can help you with any of your goals. Let’s make February one of the best months of the year.
©2016 GateWay of Hope – Hope, Healing and Wholeness for Women