How to give your life a boost
Made a New Year resolution? Broken it already? Well here are some tips to get you back on the right track ...
Life-changing plans should not be confined to New Year's resolutions.
In fact a tipsy vow to give up smoking, lose weight, whatever is probably the worst thing you can do if you truly want to make a difference to the way you do things.
Life coach Joanne Ingham from Garstang certainly believes that resolutions should be for life and not just New Year. A staggering 44 per cent of us make resolutions on January 1 by by the month end the majority of us have fallen by the wayside and returned to our bad habits.
But Joanne says that resolutions made right can have a huge difference in boosting our happiness and our lives. So how do we resolve effectively? Well here are some tips to help you do just that – to make your resolutions for life.
1. Be specific
One common problem is that we make vague promises such as; I'm going to get out more, eat healthily, be more optimistic etc. and these are hard to measure and therefore difficult to keep. So choose more concrete choices such as; arrange to meet my friends for a night out once a month, take a salad to work for my lunch three times a week, listen to my favourite music when I'm feeling gloomy.
2. Take baby steps
Remember the saying, "Rome wasn't built in a day"? Don't make your resolutions too ambitious so that you set yourself up to fail before you've even started. Begin small and take baby steps along the way. For example if your resolution is to start doing more exercise don't resolve to go to the gym every day, but start by going out for a walk at lunch time and slowly weave exercise into your life. Push yourself too hard and you may screech to a halt.
3. Be positive
Try to choose a positive resolution rather than a negative one. For example, resolve to be early to appointments instead of being late. By thinking positively about the year ahead and of what you can achieve instead of what you lack will boost your spirits and help your changes be lasting.
4. The right image
Act as if you have already achieved your resolution.
Conjure up the image of yourself in your mind and really put yourself in those shoes. What would that perfectly healthy person do right now? What would they eat? How often would they exercise? That's what you do now. Act as if moment to moment to moment.
And, sooner than you think you won't be acting anymore.
5. Choose a buddy
Being accountable for our actions is a key to success when it comes to making and sticking to resolutions.
We all need help from time to time, so choose a willing friend or join a group who will to support you with your plans and help to keep you motivated.
*Joanne Ingham is a life coach and trainer.
She is the founder of LifeBooster which promotes emotional wellbeing and happiness by way of coaching, workshops and public speaking. WWW.life-booster.co.uk
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Thursday 29 July 2010
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