New Year, New You: Nonsense!

In years past, the New Year would roll around and everyone would begin talking about New Year Resolutions. They were en vogue for years. We all participated in some capacity. It may have been to jot down a few ideas, tell everyone you were going to lose a few pounds, or it may have been to do something drastic!

But we all said, “New Year, New us!” I’m here to tell you today that this is nonsense! Not only that, we know in our hearts that new year’s resolutions are something we write down in a journal, notebook, or paper and promptly lose! Even worse, we spend money trying to get ourselves set up only to quickly find that what we chose is overwhelming!

In a post-pandemic world, we have found that resolutions are just not part of our lives! If 2020 taught us anything, it was that we have NO idea what is going to come. I have seen the drop off in resolutions in the past several years and the rise of something that might be more successful. 

Instead of an outcome-based resolution, we should focus on behavior-based goals. Why do behavior-based goals work better? Behavior-based goals focus on changing small things at one time and building upon those small steps to create cascading change. When we have our habits established in one small behavior change we can add on!

I liken this to changing out your pantry. If we go into our pantry and throw out everything we know how to use and fill it with new products we don’t know how to use, we quickly find ourselves overwhelmed, and back to the old way of cooking.

If we simply replace 1 item or 2 items every time we consume the old one or go grocery shopping, soon we have a lifestyle of change. We now have new habits that when we fall back on them, they are in a healthy lifestyle and change! THIS is how we make lasting change.

It’s not a simple resolution where we go all in for 3 weeks, get tired, and then hop off that bad ride. Nope, we get on a slow ride. We learn, we grow, and our growing pains are easier to manage!