Stepping into 2023 ...Small Steps

Jan 05, 2023

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 best time of the day to attend 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.

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 2023 goals. 

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

 

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