(I apologize if your name is Alan or Cathy)
I wanted to share my opinion on New Years resolutions. I think it comes down to your personality; All-in Alan vs Cautious Cathy All-in Alan The person that dives head first into the deep end every time a new and exciting idea arises. Cautious Cathy It take a lot of arm twisting for you to make a change, even if you know the change could help you in the long run. Alan find himself find himself fizzling out after a couple weeks or a month. Cathy may take years to start. There are pros and cons to both personality types, one is not superior to the other.
Resolutions are meant to be a long term change, long term meaning life-long. If you dive head first trying to change your entire lifestyle, there will be a lot of resistance from your inner dialogue and those who are close to you (that aren't trying to better themselves.) Eventually the excitement of the challenge will wear off and it will become hard, really hard to maintain. This is why most resolutions only last 2 weeks. On the other hand, it could be really challenging, anxiety inducing even to change a fundamental part of who you are. I've come up with a quick few tips that may help you from drowning and/or getting your toes wet to start:
1 Make small changes in stages Making drastic changes in unsustainable (aka All-in Alan.) Start with one, maybe two small changes, give them 2-3 weeks to become habit then add in another change. It is about consistency over the long term so start small, gain momentum. All the little changes on a daily basis compound.
2 Verbalize your goals to close friends and family Tell your close acquaintances of your goals, your reasoning behind wanting to change, and most importantly the time commitment is going to take to reach them. You need to ask for their support. With every goal, it usually means spending time working toward it, which in turn means less time with what you were currently doing. Maybe that means you aren't going to be able to attend all three wine nights each week, or you are going to walk on your lunch instead of hang out in the cafeteria with your coworkers. When your friends and family know ahead of time, they will give you less shit, less resistance when you turn down an invitation.
3 Find accountability Find a group of people that have the same intentions and do it together (at a distance because we are in a pandemic.) Find a coach that will hold you accountable and provide you with tools to help you succeed. At the very least, the people you told in #1 can be there for you to cheer you on, to check in on your progress and listen to you vent how bad it sucks (but in a good way.)
Start now Start evaluating, visualizing what you want to be different. Think about what will need to change in order for that to become reality. Now break them down into bite sized chunks to tackle one at a time. I offer a One on One, 45min coaching session via Zoom to help you come up with a game plan to achieve your goals. I listen to what have been struggles and sticking points in the past, and helps to come up with a road-map for that will work for YOU. After the call Sarah will create an action plan for your to get you where you want to go and send it to you in a PDF format. This is a great time to start looking ahead for the new year. (2021 can't come soon enough.) Check it out here: https://www.run-fearless.com/product-page/one-on-one Thanks for reading, hope to see your face on a Zoom call 😘 xxSarah
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