Wellbeing Wednesdays week 8 – New Year, New Hope

As 2020 comes to a close, will you reflect and see it as a complete washout, or have you taken some positives from this year?

Take a moment to reflect on the following;

• What has been challenging?
• What have you learnt?
• What have you enjoyed?
• What are you going to continue after life goes back to ‘normal’?

Stay focused

As with every end of year, some people let it pass them by and carry on, and others set out their goals for the year ahead.

The start of a new year is one of the best moments to set a goal because everything is a brand new beginning.

People often jump into the new year with excitement and motivation because they believe that the coming year is going to be great for them.

However, whether your goal is to get fitter, to save money, to learn a new skill, or something else, it is true most people fail and give up on their goals by the second week of February.

10 tips to help

People start strong, but as time goes on motivation sometimes fades and old habits start to come back.  If you are setting new goals for the new year, use these 10 tips to help you:

1. Make your goals, specific and with a timeline – Identify the end result you want, include numbers in your goal and include a date to reach your goal by.
2. Transform your identity to reach your goals – Make sure what you want to achieve reflects who you are. You will have to develop the right character to create the right habits to get what you want to achieve.
3. Create an action plan – In order to achieve a goal you must have a plan. Without a plan, you are not giving instructions to your mind what you need to do.
4. Build your schedule and block out time – Now you have a goal and a plan, block out the right amount of time to achieve your goals.
5. Find a support partner – Find someone you trust to share your progress and someone who will push you and hold you accountable.
6. Track your progress – When you track progress, you remind yourself of your goals and what you need to do to achieve them.
7. Aim high, start small and focus on the progress – By focusing on the end result and how you are going to get there, checking on your progress, you have more chance on achieving your goal.
8. Create the right environment – The environment you are in often plays a hidden hand that shapes your habits and decisions.
9. Improve yourself in the area you want to be great – Sometimes you don’t have to do something new, you need to work on what you already know and what you are good at to be great.
10. Regularly review your goals – Write down your goals, look at them, review them, track your progress, talk and think about them.

What are your goals?

Now as the bell tolls midnight to herald the New Year, think about what you have achieved this year and what you want to achieve next year.

To help you, if you are setting goals, here is a list of goals which you may wish to try:

1. Maintain a regular fitness regime – join a local boxing gym (find one here), doing outdoor or at home workouts (some ideas here).
2. Get up earlier – if you have a busy schedule, set your alarm a little earlier to get more done each day.
3. Drink more water – water is so important for a healthy body and mind.
4. Keep a regular sleep schedule – Sleep quality helps you stay more alert, feel more energised and improve productivity levels during the day.
5. Be more kind to yourself, by practicing self-care – be nicer to yourself this coming year.

Whether it be something small, something new or something you want to continue, the most important thing is only do what you want to do and what makes you happy.

Remember: Stay safe, stay kind and achieve your dreams and goals in 2021.