Simply Happy
As 2021 comes to an end, there’s a great sense of energy and excitement to make a fresh start and say goodbye to the year. Starting the new year on a high can create energy and drive your motivation for the year to come. There are little things you can do to boost your New Year celebrations and get ready for whatever comes your way in 2022.
Reflect on your highs-and-lows
One of the best ways to create positive energy for the new year is to celebrate everything you’ve achieved or learned from the year. Reflection allows you to acknowledge and enjoy all the successes you’ve achieved, no matter how big or small. It allows you to gain perspective and learn more about yourself and the world around you. Without taking a moment to reflect, you might overlook some of your biggest successes or lessons for the coming year. Even if it has been a tough year, looking back on all you have overcome may increase your energy and motivation.
A little exercise to reflect on the ups and downs of 2021 is to write down:
- What have you achieved this year?
- In your work life
- In your family life
- In your health and wellbeing
- What are the lessons learned?
- In your work life
- In your family life
- In your health and wellbeing
- What would you like to stop doing?
- What are you going to start doing?
Take the time to think about why you’ve selected what you have, and what the intention is behind your reflections.
Re-frame your language
We all can fall into negative patterns of language use. You might be surprised to find how the way you frame aspects of your life can negatively or positively influence how you feel. For example, negative language like “I can’t do this” or “I’m not the kind of person who…” can act as a barrier to achieving new goals and ambitions. As you are thinking of areas of your life you might want to change in 2022, think about how you are framing the change.
A thought like “I would like to try yoga but I am not good at it” or “I don’t have enough time or energy to try yoga” can be changed to “I would like to try yoga and see if I benefit from it” makes trying a new hobby like Yoga much more accessible. Positive language removes the invisible barrier to try new things and the benefits that might come along with them.
Build healthy habits
Once you’re using positive language, it’s time to build healthy habits. Habits are automatic responses and activities we do in our lives. We have habits built throughout our week like eating meals, brushing our teeth, and school drop offs. It is much easier to maintain healthy activities like habbies, exercise, healthy eating, or socialising when they are regular habits in our routines.
Start by thinking about what you would like to build into a habit. This could be anything like practicing yoga every week, walking more often, or keeping up with old friends. Once you’ve selected your activity, you can develop a habit through three elements: cue, routine and reward. A cue is something that will give you an urge to do something, routine is repetition of the activity, and reward is the benefit of that activity. The example of yoga would be setting a time and location to practice yoga (cue), practicing it at the same time every week (routine), and enjoying the relaxation and physical health benefits after every session (reward). Before you know it yoga (or whatever healthy habit you choose) will be a regular part of your life to enjoy!
Consider building an identity-based habit. Rather than a physical activity like yoga, an identity-based habit is outcome-focused, like feeling calmer. The process to achieving this calmer habit may be a process like yoga, but it also can be a lot more broad and inclusive of other calming activities and thoughts. This type of habit promotes positive identity and beliefs about the way you see yourself. This can change your thoughts from something like “I am not good at being calm and I can’t relax” to “I can be calm and make time for relaxation”.
Set achievable health goals
Goal setting is a common theme around the New Year. Start by examining your values and what you would like your future to look like. Break down your goals further by asking why you want this change, how you will feel about this change, and what else might change. It is the motivation that will drive your decisions and actions, which will build confidence to help you push through the obstacles and achieve your goals.
Try creating a vision board where you can brainstorm all these elements of your goals. If you write down your vision and goals you are more likely to remember them and the steps required to achieve them. It also helps you to track your progress and celebrate your wins.
When you can see a goal being achieved, this can build confidence and make you feel energised and content. Try to write down a SMART goal and track your progress:
How to create a SMART goal
- Specific – include how, where and when you will be doing the new health For example, I will walk on the beach for twenty minutes between 6am-6.30am on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Measurable – a percentage is a great way to measure whether the goal was achieved at the end of each For example, I walked for twenty minutes for two out three mornings of the week. The goal was 80% achieved.
- Attainable – it needs to be something you really want even if there are some challenges and
- Realistic – make sure the goal is achievable because success builds
- Timeframe – state how often you will be doing the new For example, I will be walking for twenty minutes three times a week.
By stating your vision you understand what you want in life, and ultimately, it will inspire and motivate you. Goals help to turn your vision into reality. This is all about empowering YOU to take control of YOUR life, to make the changes YOU need.
What are you celebrating for 2021? What are you wanting to achieve in 2022?
