Did you know that January fourteenth is the day that most people give up on their New Year's Resolutions? Those of us that have set them hit a wall in our determination to change. Around this two week mark things start to get hard. We've moved away from the start and are entering the murky middle ground. We can't really see the end goal and the efforts we have started have lost the shiny sheen of being new. So we just give up.
There are a million and one reasons why we give up. Some are legitimate. We tend to be over confident and get caught up in the excitement of change and accountability. We join the weight loss group. We buy the seven habits of highly effective people. We get the fifty dollar planner with all the inspirational quotes. Then the credit card statement from December rolls in and we go back to the old comforts of television, social media and comfort food.
We give up on the weight-loss goal because the cheese danish tastes better than skinny feels. We stop exercising because we might have some muscle aches or joint pain. We might stop waking up fifteen minutes earlier because our show started the new season last night and we really prefer the extra bit of sleep to compensate for that extra glass of wine. It's hard to stay grateful in the midst of constant worries. It's hard to read that self-help book that pokes at my emotional wounds.
Life never get's easier. If I don't put into place some new ways of dealing with old stressors, than I'm always going to go back to what brought me "comfort" or "escape" from my reality.
What new ways have I developed, you ask?
1. I buy my chocolate in small amounts and got rid of all the alcohol in my house. Then ask my partner to hide it for me. I don't eat chocolate when I'm stressed. I eat it when I want to enjoy the delicious salty sweetness as a treat. If I don't have my preferred drink on hand it keeps casual drinking to a minimum. It's again a treat, because then I have to go somewhere and make a plan to get a glass of wine. If it's not easily accessible, I can't just go to it as a default.
2. If I have a task that will only take 5 minutes, I do it. This keeps things like clutter, laundry and dishes from piling up.
3. I've scheduled my tasks instead of my tasks scheduling me. This goes to my favorite thought of saying to "No" to things.
Do I want to do these things every day? No, I don't. But I've also gotten to a place where I would rather make some small changes that will lead to bigger ones than stay in the same place I have been.
Are you ready to make some changes?
 |
| photo from mydario.com |
There are a million and one reasons why we give up. Some are legitimate. We tend to be over confident and get caught up in the excitement of change and accountability. We join the weight loss group. We buy the seven habits of highly effective people. We get the fifty dollar planner with all the inspirational quotes. Then the credit card statement from December rolls in and we go back to the old comforts of television, social media and comfort food.
We give up on the weight-loss goal because the cheese danish tastes better than skinny feels. We stop exercising because we might have some muscle aches or joint pain. We might stop waking up fifteen minutes earlier because our show started the new season last night and we really prefer the extra bit of sleep to compensate for that extra glass of wine. It's hard to stay grateful in the midst of constant worries. It's hard to read that self-help book that pokes at my emotional wounds.
Life never get's easier. If I don't put into place some new ways of dealing with old stressors, than I'm always going to go back to what brought me "comfort" or "escape" from my reality.
What new ways have I developed, you ask?
1. I buy my chocolate in small amounts and got rid of all the alcohol in my house. Then ask my partner to hide it for me. I don't eat chocolate when I'm stressed. I eat it when I want to enjoy the delicious salty sweetness as a treat. If I don't have my preferred drink on hand it keeps casual drinking to a minimum. It's again a treat, because then I have to go somewhere and make a plan to get a glass of wine. If it's not easily accessible, I can't just go to it as a default.
2. If I have a task that will only take 5 minutes, I do it. This keeps things like clutter, laundry and dishes from piling up.
3. I've scheduled my tasks instead of my tasks scheduling me. This goes to my favorite thought of saying to "No" to things.
Do I want to do these things every day? No, I don't. But I've also gotten to a place where I would rather make some small changes that will lead to bigger ones than stay in the same place I have been.
Are you ready to make some changes?
 |
| photo from don'tgiveupworld,com |
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