It’s getting close to New Year’s and you may starting to think about what your New Year’s resolution is going to be. Is it to lose weight? Start exercising? Put yourself out there on an online dating site? Spend more time with your family?
My advice is don’t set a New Year’s resolution! Only 8% of people who make a resolution on January 1 actually keep that resolution all year long. 8%!
Consider doing this instead. Change your brain to be successful in whatever goal you want to go after.
That sounds complicated and that it might take a long time. But, in fact, you can do it every day- starting now.
Here are the steps you need to take to change your brain and be successful:
- Write down all the thoughts or doubts that come up when you think about your goal or resolution. For instance, when you think about trying to lose weight (one more time,) your thought might be, “I’ve never been successful losing weight before” or “I can’t lose weight when I have to eat out all the time with clients or colleagues.”
- Next, identify what feelings come up when you think each of those thoughts. Frustration, desperation, doubt?
- Then, what action do you take as a result of these feelings? Eat ice cream, give up and go back to your former way of eating, what?
- So what is the result of these actions? You don’t lose weight, right? You might even gain some. You give up before really trying.
The thing is, your brain is used to these old thought loops. It has reverted back to them every time you have deviated from your protocol or new way of eating and did not lose.
How can you change things up and change your brain so that you are successful? You have to make NEW thought loops. And repeat them. You will actually make new neural pathways in your brain. This will greatly increase your chance of being successful in your weight loss.
Here is how you do it:
- What is a new thought that you can actually believe to counteract the old thought? How about, “I can figure it out,” or “I can make a commitment to myself and stick to it.” You pick some you can use.
- Your feeling from that becomes what? Confident, excited? What?
- Then, what do you do – what action do you take? You research what plan you’d like to follow. Or decide what changes need to be made and do them!
- Finally, what is the result? You have kept the commitment to yourself, which feels good. You lose weight and feel better. Your clothes fit better.
That’s the way you reach your goal in 2019. Not by making a resolution you can’t keep. By changing your brain and accessing it any time you feel challenged or are losing ground. Write it down just like you did before: Thoughts, Feelings, Actions and Results. This process can be applied to any area of your life.
You can totally do this! If weight loss is your goal for 2019, you can get started right now. Just grab this simple weight loss blueprint and you will be on your way to reaching your goals. Forget the resolutions – do this instead!
Want to talk more about your challenges with sticking to your weight loss goals? Just send me an email at jane@janespringer.com and we will chat about some strategies to get you moving forward, even before December 31, 2018!
Happy New Year everyone!
Jane Springer is a certified Life, Wellness and Style Coach who assists women in taking care of themselves, in body, mind and spirit. She coaches women who want to lose weight, avoid diabetes, and feel great. She also helps them thrive after divorce. She also helps them to clear their closets of old clothes and outdated attitudes, so they can shine and feel confident.
inspiring material.