In particular, as December draws to a close, I have begun to feel more concerned about my health and physical strength. I find myself telling myself, “in January I will start high-intensity activities,” “I will start a diet to lose the kilos I have gained,” and “I will go to bed earlier to get 8 hours of sleep.” They are all great ideas, but the problem is that I get stressed just thinking about all my New Year’s resolutions. Maybe the same thing happens to you, and that’s because The challenge begins because:
End-of-year resolutions can reinforce what we currently perceive as our failure, lack, or defect If we analyze the example of my own life, my intentions to be more organized with my sleeping hours and to have more willingness to exercise accentuate my feeling of disorganization with my rest and neglect of my body in the present. Resolutions, in the end, can end up being that little inner voice that beats us down and shames us for how we are.
1. Contact our wisest Self to see how to alleviate all the pressure we impose on ourselves
“Okay, I want to lose a little weight, but the main thing is my health. Is it real that I have to lose that amount of kilos to be healthy? If so, how can I start making comforting changes to my routine?”
2. Adopt a growth mindset
I want to learn, undertake, make these changes. I’ll take some steps forward and others back, but that’s how you move forward “Have I had a stumble? It’s normal, I get up and continue.”
3. Be self-compassionate
We are ruthless with ourselves, we tell ourselves a string of horrible things about how we are and how we “should be” As well as we treat someone we love very much and who is going through a difficult time, we can treat ourselves, “I know I am doing my best and even then it is not always easy, I value myself, I forgive myself, I let go of so much pressure, I trust.”
4. Rephrase thoughts
Replace “I have to”, “I must”, and “I should” with “I am inspired by studying this”, “I enjoy doing training”, “I feel like being more rested”.
5. Have an attitude of curiosity about the process instead of focusing only on the goal
“What would I like most about going to the gym?”, “What do I value most about meditating?”, “How do I feel when I come back from the course?”
6. Formulate the purposes in the affirmative and in the present.
“I love my body and I am agile”, “I am worth a lot and I deserve this new job”. If you tell your brain not to do something, sooner or later it will do it Visualize yourself how you want or doing what you want now and the brain will take it for granted because it does not distinguish between present, past, or future.
7. Be reasonable with what we want and start taking one step at a time
This will give us a sense of accomplishment that will propel us forward. Last summer my lower back hurt horribly. He had had a sprain and had not exercised for months. I re-started yoga one day a week. It’s amazing how much I’ve improved. If I had restarted more days of the week, I would have quit.
Concluding
Instead of focusing on behaviors we don’t like, let’s put our energy into creating new habits that comfort us Let us be grateful for everything we are, what we have achieved, and what we are capable of.
As the Dalai Lama tells us: “Every day, when you wake up, think: today I feel lucky to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it.”
The problem lies not in having New Year’s resolutions, but in the unrealistic expectations we have and the level of concern with which we set them. As long as we start feeling light, relaxed, grateful, and valuing ourselves, we will be on the right track. Have a great new year!
