While it might be churlish to say that everyone has come out of 2020 needing a bit of TLC, it’s also fair to say that the last year has impacted the great majority of us fairly badly. Be it our physical or mental health, a new year is a great time to reinvigorate ourselves, but that is easier said than done. So, how do we reinvest in ourselves, and get back to a zone where we are comfortable, but have actually moved forward? While that might instil the horrors in some, learn to embrace it and love a challenge.
Everyone needs goals – you just need to decide what they are and how you are going to achieve them. You can go small and decide on eating veggies with all of your main meals or really embrace the notion and build yourself a new body or career, or you could even think about stopping procrastinating, but whatever you do, you are going to need a plan to get there…apart from the procrastinating one, obviously.
Start by writing your goal(s) down and put them somewhere convenient. If you stick it on the fridge door, you can also embrace the power of affirmations and say your goal out loud when you open the fridge…and then close it because you aren’t going to break your resolution and eat the cookie dough that you have. You need to remind yourself often both of what your goal is and what you are going to get out of it. Are you ultimately going to get a better body out of it? A new job? A bristling, brand new set of facial fur? Why are you actually doing it?
Once you have your goals(s) and your motivation, you just need to plan how you are going to get there. Some goals take more effort than others and while some you can probably breeze through and then pick another; just remember, a few smaller wins are much better for your psychological status that one larger win that you may not actually achieve. If you start small, and get some good wins, it will give you the confidence to tackle something larger.
You could also think about taking up some kind of support, because a problem shared is a problem halved. There are plenty of support groups out there, and while you may have to do it by Zoom, being able to discuss things with others going through the same can be enormously supportive. If you are learning a new language, once you have learned the basics, turn to social media and see if you can find a friend or acquaintance who also speaks the language and is willing to converse with you in it; practice makes perfect. If you are taking up a sport like running, you may be able to do it with others in a suitably socially distances way. Whatever you intend to do, support will make it much more palatable.
After the last year, you deserve to get your existence back on track, and you can start that that by changing something in your life for the better.
It’s a new year, so why not really embrace it?
