It’s the New Year and many of us are wanting a “new you”. We usually do this by making resolutions or vows for changes in our habits, diet choices or harmful impulses that many times are not attainable. Change that becomes “good habits” takes time, practice, and perseverance. Success in making long lasting sustainable changes that lead to permanent life altering self-improvements revolves around the following seven actions.
1. Identify your “Resolutions” or the changes you would like to make for yourself. Make a detailed list, then arrange them in order of attainability giving yourself a realistic time frame. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Set yourself up for success.
2. Treat Your Whole Body to Achieve Balance. Keep in mind that we need to treat our whole being to create balance- body, mind & soul. Balance keeps us healthy= Homeostasis. We all have basic physical needs that we often neglect like getting proper Sleep, Exercise, Hydration & Nutrition; for our Mind- Reading, Learning, Exploring, Meditation; and for our Soul- Laughter, Emotional Connections with Others, Spirituality. It is important to be mindful that we nourish ourselves properly, maintaining a consistent balance unique to your individual makeup and current state of health. This will vary from person to person, not all substances are right for everyone.
3. Time is a Resource. Make Small Changes that can a Create Bigger Impact. Also, you need to be mindful daily of your “resolutions” and keep in mind that it takes about a month to make a habit stick. Increase additional adjustments to your routine as they become long lasting habits. Extreme changes usually do not work! Slow and steady wins the long-term race.
4. Be Positive. A positive outlook goes a long way that can keep your momentum going longer than being negative or assuming you will fail. Imagine yourself in your new phase, daily.
5. Accountability. Post Your Intentions, Plan. Write it down, plan it out, hold yourself accountable. If you stumble along the way, that’s OK we ALL DO- start over, and keep starting over until you don’t have to, it will be engrained in you as how you live now. Our brains use pathways, when we change habits our brain has to use different pathways and the more we use them the deeper the pathway is transforming our new habits into life style changes. Write it on a calendar, APP on your phone, create a vision board, or something else that you will look at multiple times a day. You will visually imprint this into your brain.
6. Do Your Research, Consult with a Professional when Needed*. There is a lot of information out there, some of it is accurate, other is opinion often masking as facts in order to sell products or create content. A slow, steady approach is always better than radical unbalanced diet extremes. Check multiple sources for accuracy when doing research. It is always a good idea to discuss your health plan with your medical professional, especially if you have pre-existing conditions, take medication or pregnant.
7. Remove Chaos & Clutter. Winter is a great time to utilize our time indoors to declutter, clean out drawers, cabinets & closets. Donate what you do not use anymore to charity, organize what you decide to keep. Attack this by focusing on one room at a time, section by section, a little bit each day. This tasks add up to a finished area giving you a task fulfillment boost of feel good dopamine.
As we identify are goals and make our plan, keep in mind there may be other concepts that may help you. Do what works best for you, but also try new things and enjoy experimenting new concepts. Life may get complicated at times and we may stumble off our intended path. When we do just pick up where you left off, continue on that new path you are trying to create.
*Resources for Researching Herbs and Natural Medicine:
American Herbalist Guild https://www.americanherbalistsguild.com/
Herb Society https://www.herbsociety.org/
Medline Plus https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/herb_All.html