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Ease Into the New Year
Ease Into the New Year
If you are not a fan of New Year’s Resolutions, I get it. January 1st comes during a time when remnants of the holidays are still lingering. I try to get myself and my 3 kids back into a routine for school and work and the thought of adding anything new to my routine feels daunting. There is too much pressure to start resolutions on the first and continue to be successful with them throughout the month, let alone the entire year. I use January to recover from the Holiday Hangover and ease into the new year while reflecting on what I would like to change. I don’t implement any changes on January 1st but rather I just enjoy my day off. There is already enough pressure to get yourself (your family) back on track from the holidays so why add more to your plate that early in the year? Let’s look at how we can reframe the new year to be motivating rather than paralyzing.
For starters, continuing to call it a resolution may evoke more pressure to accomplish one very specific task or change in behavior. If we define it more as a goal or simply a lifestyle change, then there is less pressure, rigidity and more flexibility.
Let’s rethink the resolution as an area of our life that we want to improve. Let’s turn, “I want to lose 15 pounds this year,” into, “I am going to start eating better and exercising more.” Depending on how you define your resolution can have a big impact on how you think about it and then the feelings you have toward it.
When defining our goals, let’s be realistic and not set the bar too high. Think about your daily or weekly routine right now and make subtle changes that will enable you to start working toward your goal. It is more probable that you will accomplish what you want if you are making small modifications to your routine rather than trying to implement something drastic all at once.
The key to forming a habit is repetition. The amount of time it takes for a behavior to become a habit depends on a lot of variables such as the reward value of the behavior, how complicated the behavior is and pre-existing behaviors that may get in the way.
If you have an “off” day or week that does not enable you to work toward your goal, don’t give up. Just start where you are and slowly make adjustments to get back on track.
You can start implementing better habits at any time during the year, but the start of the new year is a good time to reflect on your growth thus far, where you are presently, and how you want to evolve. The power to change is in your hands. Happy 2024!
Amber (Curtin) Kresovich, a Bellefonte native, is a Licensed Professional Counselor who owns a private practice, Mind Over Matter Professional Counseling Services, LLC. Amber has been a counselor since 2007 and has been in private practice since 2016 serving children, adolescents, adults in the area. Check out www.momcounseling.com for more information.
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