Who’s absolutely enjoying the season? It’s the end of the year and we’re all winding down, pumping out the lasts drops of effort we had for all the things we wanted to accomplish this year. It’s getting tough, though, isn’t it? When it comes to our health, isn’t it just easier in January?
As the year comes to an end and pressure increases to come up with a new year’s resolution, most of us will migrate toward the idea of just starting over in the new year, going through a health reset or something similar… yeah, that’s a great idea … again.
I’ll be honest, I actually love the reset, especially the health reset. It’s the thing that gives me permission to do what I want during the holiday season, well kind of…
Do You Give Yourself A Break?
Over the years, I’ve finally changed my lifestyle for the better so it’s not just a diet, or something I have to suffer through from one event to another, fitting into an outfit or preparing to show up looking my best. And, I’ve found it’s much easier to take little breaks throughout the year and otherwise maintain a very health conscious focus in my every day life.
You may be wondering, what are these breaks I’m talking about. Or, you may be wondering how hard is it to make those big changes to get into this so-called lifestyle. Well, just so you know, it’s the breaks that make living the lifestyle easy to do. Breaks and learning how to get around them without much of a stir.
I do work on staying in that healthy most of the year, and I encourage you to do the same. Preventative wellness, I guess you could call that. I’m not going to claim to be perfect, not by a long shot. And I won’t pretend it wasn’t a tough adjustment coming. Some of the changes I made for my health took years to get used to or to. Once I’d made the full switch from the standard American toxic living, it was knowing that I could take a break if I needed to that made it easier to stick to.
I take my breaks from supplements, I break from using my sauna every day, exercise, intermittent fasting, and even from sticking to the foods for my metabolic type. And why not reserve these breaks for major holidays, my kids’ birthday celebrations, a wedding or something like that? Don’t get me wrong, there was a time in my life when healing and detoxification was so urgent, that I did skip most, if not all of the “celebrating” when it came to eating any foods that would throw me off track, it just wasn’t worth it. But now? I’ve been locked into this lifestyle for quite some time. I won’t say it’s the easiest all the time, but it is consistent enough that I can take a break now and then.
Maybe You’re Still Trying To Make The Change
Next year is the year when I’m finally gonna make that change. How many years have we all thought that? I know I struggled for too many years doing too many things that did not work to make a difference in how I was feeling.
Unless I’d just had a baby, I never had any major issues with weight. I had an outward appearance of being healthy, but I felt awful much of the time. I chalked it up to motherhood, five kids, homeschooling.
Historically, I’ve sarcastically referred to the new year’s resolution as a pain in the ass we all enslaved ourselves to despite not really giving a shit about making one. It’s what everyone does, right?
What’s sad about this attempt to commit to something good in the new year is the statistics about the widespread failure of society at large to actually accomplish anything! Something like 9% of people report achieving their goals set as the apparently jinxed new year’s resolution. That’s 91% failure rate.
I digress.
If I time the sharing of this article right, we’ve still got time to make this all workout really nicely for next year. Let’s focus on how not to fail..
New Year, New You?
Every year we see it. January is New Year, New You Month, isn’t it? A favorite month of the year for gym owners, no doubt, because of all the new memberships who only show up for a few weeks, few months at best. If you live any kind of a social life whatsoever, you see it. At work, among family and friends, the reinventions surrounding health are everywhere. Statistics say that a whopping 73% of us will keep it up for a week. That’s right, one week. What? Yes. 45% will manage to keep it up for a max of 6 months. That’s actually not too bad. But in the end, most will admit to failure, at least by some definition of their own standard.
Does it even matter why the high rate of failure?
Maybe.
The reason people usually fail at something is because it’s what people do. And who doesn’t fall victim to doing what everyone else is doing? This is one area where playing as part of a team never works out. Which is why, when it comes to new year’s resolutions, if you don’t want to fail, you better be ready to make that commitment TO YOURSELF. No one but you can be held accountable for your resolution, or to your commitment to you.
Of course, it stands to reason, if everyone else is quitting, that not only will you be more likely to quit, but you’ll be ok with quitting, because everyone is quitting. Is this the circle you wanna find yourself in by mid-March? The Quitters…
Ok, if you’ve read this far, you can see that I’m a long winded, pessimist. Some might say I just have a little bit of perspective. I’d say I’ve learned from my mistakes.
But, if we are all doomed to fail and repeat these mistakes over and over again, but we still need to find a way to get better, do better and be better, maybe it’s time to stop doing what everyone else is doing.
Yes, it is that simple.
6 Ways To Achieve Your HEALTH Goals Next Year
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- stop doing what everyone else is doing!
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- accept that action is necessary
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- embrace discipline
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- structure your days/weeks/months/year to include steps to achieving your goals
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- give yourself a break
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- start right now!
#1 Stop Doing What Everyone Else Is Doing!
First of all, let’s stop calling this a new year’s resolution. Why? Because most people fail to achieve goals trapped in the confines of a New Year’s Resolution! So, if we stop doing that, right off the bat we’re succeeding at this first way to achieve our goals for next year.
This year, let’s push the reset button. And, since we’re talking about health goals, let’s call it a Health Reset. AND, if you’re reading this article, I’ll assume you’re at the very least, slightly interested in the organic, holistic and functional ways of accomplishing these goals. So, let’s call it your Functional Health Reset.
#1 —> CHECK.
#2 Accept That Action Is Necessary To Achieve Your Goals
Failure to accept that action is necessary to achieve your goals is the main reason for all the quitting in the second week of January. And of course without action, this failure increases and magnifies exponentially over the weeks and months of the year.
Before setting a goal for this coming year, take a few minutes to write down all of things you’ll need to actually do in order to achieve it. Ask yourself if you’re willing to take those actions. Setting a goal does not in and of itself carry out the action necessary to achieve it! That’s important to realize.
I’m not going to ramble on about this, because it is quite simple. If you set a goal, you must act on it, or you will fail, period.
#2—> CHECK
#3 Embrace Discipline
If failure to accept that action is necessary to achieve your goals is the main reason for all the quitting, then failing to embrace discipline is the reason for the failure to act. Oh my gosh, so much failure in that last sentence! What is the point?
In all seriousness, discipline is absolutely critical to accomplishing anything that requires multiple steps or any level of consistency. At some point, whether in the beginning, middle or end, it’s likely you’ll have to force yourself into something. You made the commitment, now you have to force yourself to stick to it. It is highly unlikely that you will feel all gung-ho about every step required to achieve any goal, especially a health goal. Having discipline will make this not matter at all. You’ll get through it.
Time to get used to the idea of doing things you don’t feel like doing. But don’t worry, the good news is, once you make these things habits, you won’t mind doing them. Discipline will be required to help you change those not-so-fun pains in the butt into easy-peasy lifestyle habits.
#3—> CHECK
# 4 Structure Your Days/Weeks/Months/Year To Include Steps To Achieving Your Goals
Someone important (who shall remain nameless) once said, schedule it, or it won’t happen. In other words, once you have your goals set, start planning out how you’re going to accomplish them and get them on your calendar. Make them a part of your day. Give them space, and consistent time.
Do not expect yourself to “just do” whatever you need to be doing to accomplish your goals. If you want to make real changes in your life, the goals and actions you need to accomplish in order to achieve these changes must be scheduled, every day.
#4—> CHECK
#5 Give Yourself A Break
And this is where we come full circle on the idea of planning what was formerly referred to as the new year’s resolution, now being referred to as your Functional Health Reset.
In the beginning, I asked the question, who’s absolutely enjoying the season? Because everyone should be!
At the end of the year, and right before your yearly Functional Health Reset, it’s time to give yourself a break!
Give yourself permission to enjoy the rest and relaxation that some hot cocoa and pumpkin spice or peppermint mocha coffee can bring to sitting by the fireplace and enjoying the few weeks a year when your family room looks like a sparkling magical winter wonderland. Enjoy a candy cane (or a bunch) if you want to! Plan with anticipation the joy holiday dinners and parties will bring. Don’t worry about how the last few weeks of the year are going to affect your weight because it really can’t be much, and it’s absolutely nothing your Functional Health Reset won’t address!
It’s time to enjoy life. Spend time with your friends and family. It’s ok to take a break for now.
#5—> CHECK
#6 START NOW
Yes, start now. Start planning your Functional Health Reset. Set your goals and write down the actions you must take to accomplish them. Make a commitment to yourself — get into that mindset, now. In order to successfully achieve any goal, you need to get into the proper mindset. So while you’re enjoying the rest of this year, remember the commitment you’re making to yourself, your Functional Health Reset.
For now, enjoy the rest of this year. Find joy in every moment.
Next year, there’ll be no helicopter rides to the top of the mountain.
Get ready to climb.
#6—> CHECK
Great article!