It's that time of year: New Year's Resolutions! It may send some people screaming and some it may inspire and motivate. This is for the latter.
The end of a year and the beginning of a new one is a wonderful time to slow down and assess. What worked for you the past year? What accomplishments did you have? What moments were you the proudest? The Happiest? The most Fulfilled?
And yes, what didn't work for you the past year? What did you struggle with? What was going on when you weren't your best?
The beginning of a new year is an empowering time in which events and relationships can accelerate you into making choices that center around progress.
Will you be mentally ready to make these changes?
See, that's where most New Year's Resolutions fail: We don't set them correctly.
Most of us set our Resolutions based on things we want to change, which yes, is a starting point. But we don't dig into why we want to change, and we also tend to take on too much at once. So, for the sake of goal setting success and a little accountability I'm going to share some of my 2020 Goals/Resolutions and the Rituals I'll be working toward. (If you want to know more about those -check out my 3 previous https://www.lindseyschwahn.com/blog-1)
As I said in my December posts: A goal is a place to come from, not a place to get to - so let's get to it!
Health is generally a popular Resolution topic. In fact, 55% of resolutions are Health related. And I am no exception. But it's not enough to say, "I want to get Healthier". What does that mean? Health isn't just weight, but also exercise, sleep, stress management, nutrition, life balance, energy and also those specific health issues like diabetes, cholesterol, or high blood pressure.
So, let's start with a list of the things you may want to change, or keep, in regards to your health in 2020. Here's my list:
1) Lose Weight
2) Exercise most days of the week
3) Drink 100oz of water a day
4) Have more energy
5) Get more sleep
6) Eat more vegetables
7) Eat Healthier in general
.....I'll stop there for now.
Some of you may resonate with some of these or even most of these. But they're too general, and that's part one of how we can get lost about 2 weeks in.
Lose weight: how much?
Say your answer is 30 pounds.
Ok, why? Why is that important to you?
Perhaps it's because you'll 'feel better'. Ok, great.
What does that mean? Less achy in your joints? Able to be more active?
Whatever your answer is, ask yourself Why that's important. And keep doing this until you've gone about 5 layers deep. And here's the kicker: It's never about the outside. Really. It isn't. If you answer is (like mine for a looooong time, which I still struggle with): Hollywood says I have to be a size 2, so I have to lose 50 pounds. It's not really about Hollywood. Sure, it's easy to look at Hollywood and say, 'that's the norm so that's what I have to be', but it's as much about making my weight an excuse to not put myself out there, or using it as the reason I'm not succeeding, or letting it effect my confidence or self-esteem. That's on me. It's about what I make my weight mean.
For me, it's also about what I make food mean. I use to food to celebrate, I use food to soothe and comfort, I use food to entertain, I use food for just about every emotion: there's always a food solution! What I'm not very good about is using food for health; you know, what it's actually for. In our own way, most of us identify as 'emotional eaters', but we have to pause, recognize when we're eating for emotional reasons and when we're not, then what those emotions are and where they're coming from. And it's non-stop. Every meal. Every unconscious reach for the snack. Every. Single. Time. But it's important. Because the emotion isn't just appearing, it's coming from somewhere, and the 'somewhere' isn't 'Out There' (ex: my boss was being a jerk and I was so stressed I went for a handful of Skittles), but it's an inside job (ex: My boss said XYZ and I felt completely dismissed, unheard, stupid. In essence: What did you make what your boss said mean about you?). It's a lot. It's deep. And that's why most of us will fail over and over and over again at these weight and health battles. We have to dig deeper and response from a whole different level of being. We have to get out of our own way.
Fast forward now: You've done your 5 levels of Why for each above goal. It's important because now you know what you're really looking to achieve. Maybe it's not really about the weight but the confidence you're longing for. Maybe it's not really about the weight, but being able to be active and run around and have the energy to play with your Grandkids - it's about having a deeper connection with them.
Now what? Time to tackle them all?
No. It's time to tackle ONE. That's right: ONE.
What's the Domino goal? Of all the goals you listed, what's the one goal that if you tackle it with focus, determination, and utter commitment, all the rest will fall into place?
For me, that goal is the 'Eat Healthier In General'. After doing my 5 Levels of Why I've discovered it comes down to Autonomy for me: the ability to choose. Up until now I've been running around in 800 million directions trying to do all the things and barely keeping my head above water. (Anyone else relate?) But here's the thing: that's not sustainable. And even though I know that I wasn't practicing it because even though I'd crash and burn and be exhausted and overwhelmed, I didn't Dislike what I was doing. I like to be a 'hard worker' - I wear that title like a friggin' badge of honor. And when you like your work it's easy to get lost in it. Same thing with being busy. "I'm so involved in things. Constantly going. So many things to do and people to see. Important me." (Not that that's exactly what's going on in my mind or yours, but you get the idea.) But that busy, non-stop working lifestyle has created havoc in my health. I'm the queen of carry out (sometimes healthy, mostly health neutral, and sometimes complete not). I have the best intentions of cooking at home but convenience always wins out. Ironically, this creates havoc on my wallet.... which means I have to work more to replace that cash and the cycle continues.
After the 5 Levels of Why and taking a look at the Domino Goal my Health goal for 2020 will be to cook meals at home 5 times a week. Plus, I've framed it as a SMART goal.
How did I come to this decision? Well, I already do a decent job of getting my exercise and water goal completed, so it's really more about sticking to that routine. Cooking my meals at home with help me eat healthier in general, getting more vegetables, and potentially the lose weight, better sleep, and more energy. Plus, it'll help that pocketbook in general!
From here, my job is to set myself up for success. What does that mean: Know your pitfalls and make a plan to avoid them. For me that plan of attack in my new Instant Pot. As I said before: plenty of groceries but little time to prepare and convenience wins out. But Instant Pot helps with that! Plus, I've cleared my schedule pretty drastically and have built in that time. (Remember my Boundaries blog post? If not, check it out here: https://www.lindseyschwahn.com/blog) I've researched recipes, I've been using my Pot to get to know it better, the freezer is stocked, and the meal planning notepad is stuck to the fridge. I have my goal, I have my why, I have a plan, and that's the place I'm coming from to help me with my Health goals for 2020.
Do you have any Health Goals you want to set for 2020? If so, I'd love to hear them!
And if you need help designing your goals, digging into your 5 Levels of Why, or finding your Domino Goal, let me know. I'm happy to help!
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