The Art of Change: Habits and Goals For Your New Year

Today’s blog is all about prepping you for the New Year. The sister podcast also publishes today so be sure to go listen if you’d prefer it to reading! As you read all the way to the bottom about my Flipping 50 Wellness Game, you can access that by joining our email community here.  These steps will help you choose goals and get to the juicy motivational part of them that makes them stick! 

What Do You Want?

Without filter (avoid asking why you want it or how to get it) Step 1: Write down all the things that pop into your head Step 2: Keep the ones that really excite you (you close your eyes and spontaneously smile thinking about it!)

Find Your Why

Without judgment (steer away from limiting thoughts) This might include things that it will let you do, stop you from having to do, or a way it will make you feel. Avoid the logical, because-it-sounds-good virtuous stuff. Be sure this is really what you want. If it is thinking about it makes you feel something. (state in what you want, not what you want to avoid)

Brainstorm the Actions you have control over to get there

What you need to learn What you need to do weekly, daily Help you need to find

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Example: Weight loss is what you want. You have however NO control over it happening. You can’t even break it down to lose 1-2 pounds a week. You have to add actions. Exercise is an action. To fit your schedule, exercise in the morning is an action. To get up early, you’ll have to go to bed early. To sleep enough you need to start a routine a couple hours before bedtime.

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Think: Yes, And

Leave But… off the table. Accept all new ideas and that it can work. List the ways your thoughts tend to derail you.

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Example: But, I want to spend time with my family and they like to stay up late. But, it’s [watching TV or surfing the internet] the only time I get to relax all day. But, I’m working on my business and I have to spend that time.

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Don’t back yourself into the perfection corner

1. What’s the Ideal plan of action?
2. What’s the Second Best?
3. What’s the if-all-else-fails?

There’s one more thing that you need to do if you’ve tried to make this change before.

Identify the reason it didn’t work in the past

This is where you talk to yourself. Why didn’t I stick with morning exercise?   Because I was too tired to get up Why was I too tired? Because I didn’t sleep very well Why didn’t I sleep very well?     Because I didn’t eat very well last night and then watched TV until late Why didn’t I eat well? Why did I watch TV until late? Because I didn’t plan anything ahead and I didn’t plan a bedtime Why didn’t I plan ahead? Because I can’t fit everything into a day! Why can’t I fit it all in? Because I am trying to do everything myself and I schedule more than is possible during a day.

How Many Goals Do You Have?

If you want to change multiple things (and inevitably you do) make sure they compliment each other. For instance, early morning exercise is supported by a bedtime routine that gets you quality sleep.

Step By Step

• Write down the time your actions will take.
• Schedule them.
• If you’re going to the gym, add the drive time, the actual exercise time, the showering time, all of it.
• Stephen Covey is the father of “first things first” thinking. You have to know which things are your priorities. Which things can you carry over to tomorrow?

A few success tips:

• Commit to 21 days or 28, one week at a time.
• Whatever your habit, do it daily. Even if you won’t exercise daily, keep that time for yourself.
• Same time every day.
• Remind yourself. Put it in your planner, calendar, sticky notes, alarms on your phone.
• Take something OUT if you’re adding a new habit, or put something in place if you’re removing a bad habit
• If it’s imperfect, use it as data.
• Remove your obstacles.

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Get Flipping 50’s Wellness Game. Join Flipping 50’s Active Aging Secrets and you can download the game template. YOU are in charge of deciding your own actions using this game. 21 Days – in reality it takes 66 to change a habit – whether that’s adding a new or removing an old, but chunking your focus into small doable parts (like 21 or 28 days) allows you to be successful. Then you can build on that. The best way to play full out is to surround yourself with a community of other women doing the same thing facing similar challenges. The Cafe is the premier spot to get more support in exercise (including a how-to library, Live weekly classes via private Facebook group), monthly new recipes to deliciously avoid the things that trigger weight loss resistance, and more… Learn more before the new Jan 1 rates increase!