It has been a few weeks since the start of 2023 and I wonder how many people already feel like they have let themselves down by not keeping up with their New Year’s resolution.
We set this BIG goal and expect ourselves to keep it without making the changes that allow us to keep up with it. Goals are amazing (I have so many goals) but when we are so narrow minded on how we achieve a goal, it can set us up for failure. Especially if we create a plan using what other people say to do.
So instead of setting a New Year’s resolution, I chose a word(s) for the year. These words are my intentions. What I want to focus on. When I chose them, sometimes I don’t even know how the words will alter my life and sometimes what I thought I would get from them changes. One year I chose abundance, thinking that it would bring financial abundance. I then realized I already had abundance in love from family and friends.
How do we turn the goals we want into intentions so we can make lasting changes?
Let’s take a look at losing weight since so many people tend to have that as their resolution. You decide on day one you will eat a certain way and exercise regularly. It goes good for a week, maybe even a month but then you “cheat” or get sick or get burnt out. That feeling of shame because you couldn’t keep up with it creeps in and then the goal is out the window. You think you have to start all over because it’s supposed to be perfect.
Making a huge change like that can be extremely exhausting and hard to maintain. I prefer starting to change my mindset and then making small changes that add up. That’s why having a word for the year helps me start to focus on where I want to go.
So, if my goal was to loose weight, I would focus on the word health as an example. Then throughout the year, I would start to pay attention to where I could remove things from my life or add things to improve my health. I would start to listen to podcasts, maybe read books. Then I could create a goal and plan that suits my life and then adjust both as needed.
If you decide to eat Keto for the whole year but two months in you realize Keto is not the right diet for you. Now you did not meet your New Years resolution. But, if your word is health and you try Keto as part of your health journey and you realize it is not the right diet for you, it’s not an issue. Staying on Keto would because it is hurting your health.
This year I have three words and you will understand why as I go through them.
1) Minimalism – this is for my life in general.
The reason this word came to me is because I am having the hardest time keeping up with everything. It’s insane! So, I am going to focus on removing things from my life that do not support me as I work hard to meet my goals. This does include getting rid of things in my home. I think we may have a trunk load of stuff that needs to be given away. The more things you have, the more things you have to pick up and clean. It also means more choices.
I am also removing activities like watching Netflix, scrolling social media, playing games. These all have a time and a place but, I was spending A LOT of time doing all of them. Then I would say I didn’t have time to write.
I am also removing thoughts. The only way I am able to get myself to do yoga, make celery juice, or even shower some days is by saying, “we don’t think, we just do.” Seriously, that has become my new mantra. If I were to think about it in the moment then I would not do it especially in the morning. So, I’m removing thinking in the moment and just taking action. As well as removing thoughts of being overwhelmed and any other negative thoughts that do not lift me up.
This is making me laugh as I am thinking about writing this but I have removed how long I am in bed in the morning. I realized, the longer I am in bed, the less motivated I am and the less time I have for my morning routine. The less I do before work, the more depressed and unmotivated I feel. When I get up really early in the morning, I do things that make my body, mind, and soul feel freaking amazing!
To be able to wake up early in the morning, I have to start at night. I am not watching TV unless it is with the kids before their bedtimes. Once the little man goes to sleep, it is time to get ready for bed and then I read a nonfiction or some sort of biography. Nothing majorly exciting, no page turner but definitely well written (I don’t want to waste my time reading something that I am not enjoying). This helps my brain shutdown and I am asleep anywhere between 8:30 pm-9:30 pm. I don’t even need an alarm in the morning when I go to sleep this early.
A very unpopular opinion is removing coffee and all caffeinated beverages. I don’t want to waste time being anxious or not fall asleep at night. It really effects me and is something I have removed multiple times. I find, every time I start to drink coffee, I end up crashing in the middle of the day. To overcome that I would drink more and more until I’m completely addicted.
2) Diligence – for my career
I want to be an author and write so many books but to do that, I need to write more. By removing things from my life (minimalism), I then have more time to write and start my dream business. It’s working! I am starting to keep track of the number of words I write every day.
3) Adventures – for my family
I want to focus on doing more adventures with my family. Time spent together is more important than spending money. This year will be packed with doing different things.
Let me know what word or words you have chosen for 2023.
NikkyNicole #mebeingme 