It’s a new year…a new you right? 2023 will be your year!
Except…the stomach flu is circulating wildly through your family, your Paypal got hacked and the 6 year old mistook the sugar bowl for confetti, and it’s only January 1. Already, the fantasy of a new year, new you is out the window with a good hard slap of reality you didn’t see coming.
When life throws us a curve ball, it is easy to throw the baby out with the bath water and assume that one bad day is a week, a month or a year in ruins.
Maybe this year, instead of lofty goals or inspiring theme words for the year, we try to be more precise in our language, and set our intentions and expectations to more reasonable levels.
Of course, a worthy goal is to become a healthier but if you approach it with an all or nothing intention, it just can’t be sustained, you’ll be snoozing that alarm by day 8 faster than you can say, “not today.” What can be sustainable? Well, start over every day. Hear me out…
Every day is a new day. Just like January 1st is the new year.
Don’t worry if yesterday wasn’t the best day, today is another chance to make some micro changes. Focus on the effort, not the reward.
Are you trying to slim down? How many of us set that goal to lose a few pounds, make a list of rules and activities that ‘must’ be done and then build in a reward if we do it, such as a cheat meal or a cheat day. The whole week is spent in drudgery, trying to be worthy of the reward.
A growth mindset is more about making an effort, an end goal of striving.
How does this look in reality?
Let’s take our goal to slim down. What are your breakfast choices? You can choose a processed blueberry muffin or you can opt for a spinach omelet. Big goals and major transformations begin with an effort of tiny choices and micro changes. Over time, each better and best choice you make, will see you through to bigger changes; sustainable change. The effort is what begins to count, not the cheat meal. Cheating our way to different quality or standard of life and living never amounts to real change.
This little brain hack works for just about every change or good habit you are hoping to see in your life. Another important part to this equation is how we speak about our shortcomings. Try to avoid words that catastrophize where you are at with your goals. Statements like, ‘I’m a total failure’, ‘What a disaster’, ‘I knew this would be impossible.’ Using harsh words that invoke defeat will do just that to our effort- defeat it.
How will you use this little hack to make 2023 one of growth and personal success?
