Four Tips To Achieve Your New Year's Resolutions

Get clear on your goals.

Most resolutions fail because a person isn't clear on their goals or the INTENTION behind the goals. In order to succeed, you need to have a good understanding about WHY your goal is important to you and how it will improve your life. Equally important are the emotions tied to the goal.

Now, if that sounds weird, hear me out and try this exercise. It's something I use with my private clients and members inside The Integrative Autoimmune Network. The ones who complete this get better results than the ones who don't. I've had clients tell me that it brought tears to their eyes. Trust me when I say, this is powerful.

Think of your goal. Then imagine yourself having accomplished that goal six months from now. You are at a special event of some kind - a party, a gathering, a business meeting. What are you wearing? How do you feel? How are you moving? What are you wearing, listening to, smelling, touching? How are other people interacting with you? What's going on? How do you feel?

Describe this in detail. Write it down. Use a pen and paper.

Here are a couple of examples.

Say you want to lose 20 pounds. Don't describe the number on the scale or the size pants you're wearing when you reach your goal. Describe what you're doing in those jeans and how those jeans make you FEEL. Sexy? Confident? Swagger? Active? Dancing like no one is watching

Perhaps you want to overcome your autoimmune symptoms. Let's talk about pain & digestion which are common healths goal I see with my clients. Describe what having less pain or better digestion means to you ...

• Is it the ability to walk to the corner store and back without having to take a nap, or rely on pain killers? The fresh air, your face to the sun, the satisfaction of being independent and free.

• The ability to work full time, feeling connected with coworkers at the water cooler, putting money into your retirement fund, feeling independent or contributing to family vacation, mortgage, groceries and college funds in a meaningful way?

• No extra stress or embarrassment by having to preplan the location of toilets before your next outing, or looking six months pregnant when you're 48 years old?

• Being more active with your kids (or grandkids) and getting down on the floor, belly laughing with static hair from the carpet, instead of wincing as you roll around?

• Being more active with your friends and going to a groovy zoomba or yoga class, which is always followed by Tea Talk at the local coffee shop, where you bump into another friend from college you haven't seen in 10 years.

• Travelling more, like a Caribbean or a Disney Cruise, and actually be able to enjoy every stop along the way... even signing up for excursions that have you zip-lining over forests or climbing into a grotto with a bunch of strangers.

This is how your goal will influence your life. These are the emotions attached to your goal. This is your WHY. It's incredibly powerful and a beacon for sustainable action when life pulls you in a million directions in January.

Develop A Health Plan That Specifically Targets Your Immediate Challenges or Obstacles

You wouldn't renovate a kitchen without a plan would you? Or lead a team project at work without an action guide? Probably not. You also need a plan when it comes to your health goals so you know exactly where to start and the exact steps you need to take to get the job done.

Resolutions often fail because people get overwhelmed - too many options and not enough focus or customization to the person.

This is understandable because life is busy with a career, family AND managing a chronic illness. If a task seems monumental and you don't have a roadmap up that hill, it's human nature to put it off or spend time researching other options, even though they are all uphill.

I have learned that the easiest way to get started ... to go where you want to go ... is to work with someone (or something) who has gone before you and laid a path. For example, I love hiking in the woods during winter. The fresh air, snow ... it's amazing for my nervous system, cardiovascular health and mental health. BUT ... I live in Canada and we can get A LOT of snow. Knee deep in the woods. On the mornings I head out ... even if I know where the path is ... it is HARD being the first one through. Even though I have walked that same path for the past 15 years, I can easily get turned around or even lost.

I need to follow the trail markers otherwise, I have to double back or it takes twice as long to get the hike done.

This is no different than having a path or markers to follow for your goal. It is so much easier when you have steps that are proven to get you up that hill, so you can turn around and see what you've accomplished. That could be a coach, a membership, a book, a program, a friend. This is one of the reasons why we (my team and I) created our membership and why I have my private clients complete three specific steps for their first appointments ... 

The path needs to be crystal clear so it is easy. This is what keeps you moving forward and helps you avoid wasting time getting lost in the woods.

It also helps to have a timeline and benchmarks to mark progress each step of the way. This will help you break down one big goal into smaller realistic tasks each week or month. You will build on your success and build momentum. I promise you that the sum of small efforts will lead to big wins. I see it all the time with my private and membership clients. We track the small wins so we can know how to move forward each month, with focus (versus feeling overwhelmed, scattered or behind).

Adopt A Slow And Steady Mindset For Autoimmune Healing

People often bail on their resolutions because they feel discouraged when they don't experience immediate results. Not surprising because we live in an "on-demand" culture. People want results FAST - typically, in the form of pill, potion or powder. I call them magic bullets.

When people don't get results overnight, they think it's the wrong approach and they go back to the "old way" of doing things. Especially when they compare themselves to social media influencers or random people in facebook groups who claim they've "cured" themselves with a product or plan, despite the fact they are doing 8 other things behind the scenes (things they aren't selling that doesn't fit the narrative of that post or suggestion).

But here's the thing. Fast and furious is not sustainable. In fact, fast and furious can cause more physical and emotional stress on the body, leading to more setbacks or complications

It takes time for new habits to evolve into behaviours. You don't want to be back at square one 45-days from now, believing "NOTHING WORKS" for you and that you're too complicated to solve. To help overcome feelings of discouragement, I advise you go back to the first two points. Review your  WHY and your plan.

Accept You May Not Be Ready For Change

People sometimes have a hard time with resolutions because they are simply not ready to change anything. It's not they don't want a certain goal ... It's just that it's not enough of a priority at this point in time. Yet, even though they're not ready, they still say yes. That's because they feel pressure to do so from friends, family, Insta-Influencers, peers ... you name it.

So, if you find yourself struggling to get clear on the why for your goal, then setting a new year's resolution may not be the best time for you.

And guess what - that's perfectly ok! Other priorities may 100% need your attention. Take care of those and you're still be taking care of yourself by setting some boundaries and reframing your relationship with resolutions and the new year. 

That's an awesome insight and great way to start the new year with!

All the best for the new year and beyond!