How many times have you thought your New Year’s Resolution, rather than really made it? You know, the kind of resolution you say silently to yourself, but don’t declare aloud, because you’re afraid not only of failing, but of people knowing you’ve failed. This year I’d like to challenge you to shout it out. Whether it’s health-related or anything else, my prescription for you is:
Get clear with your intentions,
Get support, and
Get started!
First, it’s always important to notify the universe (and your subconscious, while you’re at it) of what you’re after. So make your goals clear, and then spend some time with inward reflection to see if there’s any part of you that doubts what you want. For example, if you want to lose weight, but you secretly fear your spouse will be unhappy with you if you do because it may seem like an implicit judgment of their weight troubles, your conscious desires and subconscious desires will be in conflict. Guess who’s likely to win? You need to excavate your truth, make the subconscious conscious so that you can resolve those inner conflicts, and get really clear with your intentions.
Next, you will have a higher likelihood of success if you enlist your community of fans and supporters. Collect people who will support you constructively, and not judge you in case of any slip-ups. A setback is not about beating yourself up – it’s simply an opportunity to recommit yourself and start again.
Last, most of us have had a goal or three we’ve set in our lives but not reached, which can make it daunting to set new ones. It’s an unfortunate characteristic of human nature to collect reasons to justify why “that one” was impossible from the beginning and really couldn’t have worked out anyway. However, externalizing blame rather than internalizing responsibility is a recipe for an untrue sense of powerlessness. If this sounds at all familiar, my advice for you this season is to stop making excuses for why you can’t make this change or that change, and start finding reasons, strategies, support for why you can make your life happen just the way you want it to.
If you are inspired this year to make a resolution for getting healthier or getting on the road to your optimal weight, now’s the time to register for my New Year’s “Healthy Living” series. You can put it off and ponder while you finish up your Holiday preparations or some Christmas pie, but as soon as the holiday is over, call my office to register: the last session in October “sold out.” The program starts January 5, giving you no time at all to falter in your resolution!
So, be bold and share: what do you resolve?
May the light of the returning sun inspire you toward luminous good health this season,
Dr. Deborah Epstein