Stepping into 2022 … Getting off the Starting Block

January is well known as a traditional time to make new year resolutions. But I don’t think I’m alone in saying this; by the end of the month I haven’t been able to keep up with them. Life gets in the way, unexpected events happen, and therefore I haven’t been able to fully commit to my new year resolutions. This can lead to us feeling despondent, and worse still, giving ourselves a hard time for not being able to achieve these goals.

This year has started different, thanks to what I have learnt from the Self-Care and Positive Wellbeing Webinars at Meridian Wellbeing. The New Year is still a great opportunity to set goals for what I would like to see myself doing more of, but through positive wellbeing I’ve learnt that we have 365 days to achieve them!

• We do not have to start them all on the 1st January.
• We are able to start off slowly and gently.
• We do not have to do them all at the same time.
• We are able to take smaller and specific steps.

To me, this makes a big difference. My list of New Year Resolutions remain the same, such as get fitter and eat healthier – but now I can take a step back and look at how these goals fit more realistically into my lifestyle.  I have permission to be kinder to myself. My wellbeing matters. This is my revised starting block:

Get Fitter

• Where possible, walk to the shops rather than take the car or bus.
• When in a high-rise building, take the steps rather than the lift.
• Schedule in one keep fit activity that I enjoy. For me, this is swimming.
• Look at the days in my weekly routine that I can schedule in 1-hour that is dedicated to swimming (including travelling time). I am realistically able to do this once in the week and once at the weekend.
• Look at the best time of the day to attend swimming.
• Once I have achieved swimming twice a week for the period of one month, introduce one more swim day a week, taking my total to 3 times a week.

Eat Healthier

• Write a list of all the vegetables and fruit that I enjoy eating.
• Add these items to my weekly shopping list.
• Look at recipes online that include my favourite vegetables.
• Set myself the goal of cooking one new meal a week, which include my favourite vegetables.
• Aim to replace unhealthy snacks with fruit.
• Aim to include fruit with my morning breakfast.
• Drink more water each day by filling a water bottle up twice a day and keeping it on me.

The above objectives feel more manageable. I feel like I can achieve these without breaking into too much of a sweat, or putting myself under immediate pressure. I am setting myself the goal of January to achieve the above. In February I hope to increase on some of the above goals, such as cooking two new meals a week, and a 3rd swimming session each week. It is all possible, but for me it needs to be practical too. If I am not able to increase this activity in February -  that's ok. I will be kind to myself and continue with the January plan. And I will celebrate that I 'got off the starting block' with my 2022 goals. 

I’d like to end this blog with some inspirational quotes I have seen over the past two weeks which I have found helpful and motivating, and I hope they can do similar for you too.