Well, here we are. The end of another year. To get all 80s about it, another one bites the dust. And I have one question regarding your 2019 New Year’s Resolution: How you doin? Are you on track to finish strong or did you veer off in February? Do you think you will feel stronger, healthier, and more confident as this year comes to a close? Or are you banking on a 2020 do-over?
Let me ask you another question: How are you going to feel about yourself on December 31st if you don’t accomplish your goals?
And a final question (I promise): How would you like to feel?
These are the questions I ask myself and that I want you to ask yourself. And it’s the first step of a 3-step system I use that helps me stick to my health and personal growth goals — most of the time.
So take some time to think about it. Dig deep. Be honest with yourself.
And then when you’re ready to try this exercise and see if it works for you too.
Step 1
Ask yourself: How do I want to feel on December 31st?
Do you want to feel proud of yourself or disappointed? Do you want to feel empowered or like a victim of your own circumstances? Do you want to feel strong or weak; healthy or unhealthy; young or old? (You see where I’m going with this?)
We, women, are feeling-centric (that’s my word). What I mean by that is that we are fueled by our feelings. So use your feelings to fuel you right back.
Decide how you want to feel and then take the actions that will cause you to feel those feelings. Does that make sense to you?
I’ve been doing this since I realized that the only way for me to feel strong, confident, and younger is to do the thing that will provoke those feelings in me. I start with the feeling I want to feel and I work backward and take action.
Reverse engineering.
Let’s say I want to feel strong. Now notice: I say feel strong instead of be strong. I want to feel strong in my body and in my mind. And the way I achieve that feeling is by working out. It not only makes me physically stronger but more importantly, it makes me feel stronger.
Does that make any sense?
It’s a mind fuck.
But it works.
Step 2
Commit to doing one thing every day until the 31st of the month (EVERY DAY ) to get you closer to your goal.
So if your goal is to feel fit, then commit to moving your body every day. Look, you don’t have to start running a marathon. Lofty goals are great, but baby steps are also great. Start by walking half an hour every day if that’s all you can do. Challenge yourself to do situps every day or push-ups. Simple and basic. Whatever is enough to get you feeling a little fitter than you felt the day before…that’s your goal.
It’s the simple principle of cause and effect. Remember that from school? (nerd alert)
If you need a refresher course, here goes. A cause-effect relationship is one in which one event (the cause) makes another event (the effect) happen.
Let’s take another example: eating more fruits and veggies (cause) makes me feel healthy (the effect).
Easy, right?
I’ve committed (not as a new year’s resolution but as a life resolution) to move my body 6 days a week because I want to feel fit. I’ve committed to eating healthfully (most of the time) because I want to feel healthy. I’ve also committed to doing everything I can to rejuvenate my face, body, and soul because I want to feel empowered.
Step 3
Let go of the stories and the excuses
Do you remember the Scarlet O’Hara analogy from this post?
Refresher: Don’t use the “tomorrow is another day” excuse.
To recap:
- How do you want to feel at the end of this year?
- Commit to taking action that will cause you to feel the way you want to feel. (cause and effect).
- Let go of the stories and excuses that are preventing you from moving forward.
So let’s do this. Let’s finish the year strong. Let’s all feel proud of doing the hard things. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again:
Your best days aren’t behind you, you easy ones are.
As we get wiser we have to work harder at just maintaining the status quo. It is what it is. Unfair? Hell yes! Undoable? Hell no!
Let’s feel confident and healthy and like the badass chicks that we are. And on New Year’s Eve, we can make a collective toast to feeling strong, young and empowered. And to kicking ass again 2020.
xoxo