Fall in Love with your New You Resolution

'Tis the Season!

New Year’s Day is one of my FAVORITE times of the year and for me, is filled with wonderment, hope, and energy. It’s a popular time for resolutions, which can also be stressful. According to a Statista article published in May 2021, top resolutions (around half the population) are centered around improving fitness and diet to lose weight. These are followed by saving money and pursuing career ambitions and spending time with family.

The success rate flows in the range of single digits.

Why is that? It could just be that we aren’t entirely in love with the challenge we give ourselves in the first place or the cost may be too high. Have you ever wondered what secret sauce that small percentage of people have for success in their health & wellness resolutions? There are a lot of elements to creating and fulfilling goals but often they carry a punitive or critical undertone that can wear us down. This can contribute to failure because the energy of fear and stress is simply exhausting. If we want sustainable results and transformative change then we need to really be inspired by the goal and the structure we create around it. Think of each goal as the start of your new E.R.A.H.S.

As you contemplate a fresh start you may want to use this checklist of qualities for your New Year’s Resolutions:

Exciting: Momentum is built with positive energy. Visualize what you want to achieve with this resolution and notice whether this positive outcome is near or far. Take a mental snapshot of yourself at the finish line. Remember another achievement in your life that made you proud. Childhood counts!
Realistic: Evaluate the size of your goal to make sure it will not hurt other important areas of your life or create discomfort in ways that set you up for failure. Small steps taken beat big leaps missed. When you are ready to leap you will know. Remember, the courage to start is already a giant leap!
Actionable: Break down steps to get to your desired outcome with small steps that you can actually follow in enjoyable ways. This is not a good place for a “no pain-no gain” approach. Especially if your New Year’s Resolution’s desired outcome is into the future, find ways in your actionable plan to celebrate victories along the way. Simply marking a calendar or your journey in a journal can be very powerful.
Heart-Centered: Take an honest look at what is driving your New Year’s Resolution. It’s harder than most people think. A heart-centered goal embodies qualities that enrich our system beyond the resolution. It’s normal to have parts of us that might feel trepidation around starting. Does this New Year’s Resolution light you up? Is it coming from a place of compassion for yourself? Get curious about it and attend to your feelings towards your goal for better clarity.
Self-Led: Look for qualities in your New Year’s Resolution that put you in the proverbial “zone”. For some, it is creativity, for others a sense of calm when they are engaged in the activity. Connecting with others around the activity can be heart-filling for some while for others it might be taking more time to connect to yourself. Feel into what quality resonates and add it into your New Year’s Resolution plan. Write it out, color it, create a graphic, or anything that can serve as a visible reminder from your higher Self.

Forgive yourself for days you might miss and just keep going where you left off. We all have off days. Get curious about what is going on inside. Sometimes we are just not feeling up to things and that’s ok. If there are parts of you feeling discomfort or fears, get curious about what's going on. Sometimes simply listening to that inner dialogue can clear things up. Other times, we get a different type of clarity which guides us to adjust the goal. It’s also ok to get outside help.

Keep your intention heart-centered and your New Year’s Resolution action steps will integrate into your days with more ease and joy. Sure, sometimes showing up might still be a labor of love. However, those times will be fewer and farther in between as discipline takes a back seat to a sustained desire for nurturing your present-day self into the future. If you would like to receive a free heart-centered template for a New Year's self-care resolution, tap on this link here.

Be well,

Theresa WV

TheresaWV is a Life & Wellness Coach specializing in intuitive self-care, fitness, and weight loss for women. She is also a mom and author of the Heart-Centered Wellness Journal available in bookstores and on Amazon.

Theresa Velendzas holds several certifications including NASM CPT, CES and the Level 3 IFS Certified Practitioner. She has a Psychology BS and Health Care Management MS.

For more information, you can visit her at www.altraform.com