Do You Need Some Motivation For The New Year?
It’s here, 2016 has arrived and I hope you have had a wonderful and peace filled Christmas. Now that the new year is here, it is also a good time for change. Deciding to change ones bad habits or keeping to our promises are called “making resolutions”. Many people will be hitting the gym and getting off the smokes this month. The first week of January is the most important week if you are going to make life changes. Getting yourself ready and into your plans right from the start will prevent you from getting back into your old habits. But where do you begin and how do you get motivated so that you don’t give up before the year is over?
Losing Weight
After the lovely time we had eating our Christmas turkeys and ham, and taking that much needed holiday, most of us became a little bit lazy and relaxed. Now it is time to shake off those extra pounds and get back into a healthier and fitter lifestyle. There are many ways to achieve losing weight and getting back into shape. Enough exercise is one way forward. Motivate yourself to join the gym or sign up for a new activity this year (e.g. running and yoga) and promise yourself two hours of good exercise a day. Walk to work, if it is possible, instead of taking the car out of the garage. It is always good to get a roster going that you can leave on the fridge or near somewhere you pass during the day. Plan your exercise week. One way of getting the first month behind you, is to cross each day off as you go. As you see those crosses grow on the page, you will start feeling a sense of achievement. If you are going to change your diet it is always a good idea to start detoxifying. Eat healthy vegetables, fruits and drink plenty of water.
Creating a menu that you can stick to your fridge is a good way of reminding yourself what you need from the grocery store and what you will be eating for the day. Get creative and make your own menu for each day of the week. Many of the programmes on Microsoft or Apple come with ready to use templates. Looking at a colourful menu with your meals planned is a good way to enjoy your healthier food choices and will make dieting more interesting. Good advice is not to concentrate on dieting, everyone knows that never works out or fails you in the end. The idea would be to change the way you eat and to find interesting light meals instead of starch, sugar and fat.
Giving Up The Smokes
Giving up the smokes might be the hardest goal to achieve this year, especially if you have been smoking for years. But it is never to late to try. This is the first step you need to take. People who have smoked for years find that their history with cigarette smoking is what keeps them from trying. You will often find them thinking, “I have been at it for so long; I will never be able to succeed, because it has been a part of my life for too long; it’s who I am.” You need to look past the fact that your teeth is yellow already, that your lungs are most probably damaged as well and that your fingers have been yellow for the last ten years. All this can be fixed. Those fingers can be bleached and scrubbed, there is whitening toothpastes that will work better once you’ve stopped smoking and it has also been proven that your lungs repair in the years that you don’t smoke. Put away the ashtrays, throw away the lighters and stop buying tobacco.
“Tomorrow is D-Day” is what you need to tell yourself, leaving it for later than January will mean you will have to try again next year. Whichever way you will approach to fight this addiction, be it gum, patches or electric cigarettes, it is important that you keep reminding yourself throughout the day that you are almost through the day. As with the exercises, crossing each day off that you go without a cigarette, can become the reason for you to try another day. If you feel like you are getting a craving, drink a glass of water instead, or go for a walk. Finding activities to do (e.g. around the house or garden) is a good way of keeping your mind off smoking.
Saving For Those Other Plans
Without money there is not much you can manage. Throughout the year you will find yourself squandering money and spending it on garbage. Coming up with a plan to save enough money this year for that new car or holiday abroad could be tricky, because there is always unforeseeable difficulties (e.g. the cat gets sick, your new BMW gets crashed and you need another washing machine). After fixing all of that you will have to start saving again. There are a few ways of saving money if you are into honest living and you’re not planning on turning to criminal activity. Open a special savings account – for depositing your savings only.
Try not to extract from this account. I find that Credit Union and Post Office accounts are easy to manage and seeing the money grow each week, motivates one to add more to it. Commit to an amount you can set aside each week. Another good idea is to put your coins in a savings tin. They come very cheap and you can keep it in the kitchen cupboard. When you empty your pockets or your handbag take all those lose coins to the tin instead of your purse. If you are going to give up smoking, drinking, sugar or coffee, take that money to your special savings account, you were going to spend it anyway, why not save it instead. Then you could think of a second job or even apply for a new one that pays more, but don’t quit the one you have before you get to the next one.
Final Word On New Year Resolutions
If you are a bit slow and still recovering from the New Years party don’t give up just yet, it’s never too late to start. You should tell yourself that “This is only January, I have a whole year”. Preparing yourself for the next eleven months sometimes takes a bit of time, but it is good to do good and healthy things for yourself and others; that’s why we all want changes in our lives. A change is as good as a holiday and around here we all need a second one after Christmas.
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