By Nicole DePalma MS, LMT

As “they” say, “First we make our habits, then our habits make us.”. There’s another adage I like a little bit better, and that is, “We are always at choice.”.

Even though 2020 has been a really weird year in a lot of ways, there may be many of us out there thinking of the good ol’ New Year’s Resolutions, and maybe even thinking that this is the year that’s going to be different. Different like, “I’m going to lose that 10 pounds forever this year.”, or “I’m going to work out three times a week this year.”, or “I’m going to start that new hobby this year.”. You get the picture. Mind you, people have set their minds on their resolution changes, and have made them stick. But unfortunately, that’s not always the case. If you’re one of the Team that wants “this time to be IT”, then let’s talk about increasing odds that resolutions and intentions will become reality in the New Year, even starting right now!

Begin at the beginning, and think of the change you want to make. Please, only choose one thing to work on. Too many good intentions will leave you feeling like you bit off more than you could chew, and leave you often times throwing up your hands and throwing in the towel! So, you have that “one thing”, that one thing that can occupy your focus and energy…now what?

Really think about why that one thing is important to you. That one change can’t be important to anyone else, although a great by-product of your change may be an improvement for others as well. Are you wanting change for a health reason, or for something you’ve always wanted to try out, or for something you’ve always wanted to learn, or for something you know you’re capable of, but for whatever reason, have been putting off, or have been afraid of starting? This one thing has to be important enough to move you from the thinking about it stage to the beginning to do it stage. Ideas and thoughts are great, a vision of a path forward is super, but if the thought doesn’t move into action, then we’re back to square one.

Now, onto action. What’s one thing that can be done to get the ball rolling? If the one change is working toward weight loss, perhaps that action step can be substituting an unhealthy food choice for something that’s better for your body. Can that donut become an apple? Can that candy bar become a banana? How about the first step, or re-step toward a fitness program? Can plopping in front of the TV or computer for the evening be shared with ten minutes of a walk around the block, or climbing a flight of stairs once or twice, or five minutes spent lifting a pair of hand weights? How about asking someone you know about a hobby you’d like to try, or a class you’d like to take, and then seeing what it would be like to give that thing a whirl?

We’ve started with a resolution, and why that intention is important to us, indeed, important enough to take the next step toward it, i.e., action. We’re taking one beginning action step to turn thought into reality. Finally, we move to habit and consistency. You may have heard that it takes around a month to have a change become habit. In fact many people take the time of Lent and its 40 days and 40 nights to move toward betterment. We can do the same over the any month. Just think what a gift to yourself and others to achieve greater health, learn new things, or do new things. The sky is the limit. Look at each day of only one month. Really decide for yourself that you’ll stick with your plan of resolve. “Head down, moving forward” will be your mantra, one step at a time, day by day. If you have family members, friends, or colleagues that can be in your corner to cheer you on, and be involved in your endeavors with you, its so helpful to have that Dream Team available!

If your enthusiasm wavers, or you get to the point where you want to give up, please think about the other successes you’ve had previously. All of us at one point or other, have had something that we’ve done that we could be proud of, and given us a sense of accomplishment. If we’ve achieved before, we can, beyond a doubt, achieve again. We have to keep coming back to knowing why we’re doing something, and how important it is for us to make it happen. Like Captain Picard from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” used to say, “Make it so.”. Well, then, that’s just what we’ll do. Cheers.