Snd just like that, the year has passed. Have you had time to look back and reflect on how much stronger last year made you? Yes, stronger! Either you had a bad or good year, but let me take a few lines to congratulate you, because no matter the circumstances, the heartbreaks, the losses, the turbulence, the tears, the joy, the laughs, the sweat and the achievements, today, you have the knowledge and experience to be a better version of yourself.
If the new year helps you mentally as a reset button, great! Start filling up a notebook with your goals and dreams. However, bear in mind here that, ‘life’ doesn’t know it’s a new year. Your body that you indulged during the holidays has no idea that tomorrow you will eat better; your boss might not wake up as Mr/Miss Congeniality; your laundry
for sure won’t be washed and ironed by itself; and it’s very unlikely that someone deposited a million dollar cheque into your bank account.
So if after a week, you feel discouraged, complaining about your lifestyle, frustrated and angry with clothes not fitting you as well as you wished, and feeling that you can’t control your mental health, let me tell you, you’re not alone…
My first piece of advice is: Don’t overcommit yourself. Be realistic with your situation and set goals that you have control to change, pursue and achieve.
Seek a better you, not a whole new person that you fancy on social media. When we compare our lives with someone who is reaching (or has reached) their success, our human tendency is
to feel that we lack their resources ‘to get started’, convincing ourselves that we need ‘that’ to thrive. Then reality hits, and if you’re not in a strong state of mind to change it – the complaining syndrome will start and here comes your excuse to ‘never change’ because you lack ‘all that’ for success. Here is where the battle starts.
My second piece of advice is – all you need is knowledge and simple hard work.
You have no idea what people compromise to achieve what they have. For some it is health, for others, time with their families, vacations, relationships… So again, when writing up your goals, first determine your life priorities and stick to them, because that’s who YOU are.
One thing I would like to stress here is, no matter your goals, never sacrifice your own health, both mind and body.
Own it and be in charge! Don’t let the old habits become as tasty and deceiving as processed foods are. The same way processed food is lab-altered to hit
as many pleasure centers as possible, from our brains to our mouths, so are the old habits that feel so good to do and so terrifying to change.
Unfortunately, the world out there studies and spends millions to make us addicted, dependent and trapped.
So ask yourself: How much do I know about my health? Is this lifestyle appropriate for me? Do I really need to buy this? Do I need this extra drink? Do I have to open (and finish) this bag of chips? Is my body alerting me that something is not right?
Don’t lie to yourself by saying “I can never run a5km because I can’t even walk fast…”; or, “I’m not ready to hit the gym because first I need to lose weight…”, or “if I only lived close to Nature and not in Macau…”, or even “no one recycles, so why bother?”
Trust me, I’m bombarded everyday with endless lies made up for myself to justify my flaws. It’s human, but is also human to be responsible and take care of yourself and your surroundings. The moment we ‘slap’ ourselves, and start creating a strategic plan to change our habits and lifestyle, it’s the time when we are actually taking charge of our dreams and painting them in our own lives. Let’s be decisive and take manageable risks! If you don’t know how, all you need is to educate yourself. Research the end result of what you are doing, eating or bringing into your life. Create strategies that put you in control (not the meds, not the random fast food, nor the stress and toxic relationships that drag you down).
Life is short. Live your life this year with purpose and achieve your goals!
