With the new year nearly upon us, your thoughts are likely turning to what you'd like to achieve in the next year and how you're going to make it happen. Resolutions may spring to mind, but I'm very anti-new-year-resolutions, for the simple reason - they make us miserable!
Resolutions tend to come from a restrictive mindset - usually giving up or limiting something we enjoy.
Inevitably, the pledges we make to ourselves are usually broken by the time February rolls around, because restriction is unrealistic and unsustainable. Broken resolutions leave us feeling deflated, as if we've failed ourselves - it's a terrible cycle we put ourselves through each year, just setting ourselves up for disappointment.
So rather than taking away, what if instead, you resolve to add something to your daily routine that enhances your day, and over time has an overall positive impact on your wellbeing.
A bonus may be that it balances out the very thing you were going to restrict, so you can go ahead and enjoy those simple pleasures.
If you've seen my Word of the Year blog post, you'll know that each year I reflect upon the previous year, noting what was most lacking or what my biggest struggle was. I then choose a word that embodies an intention I wish to focus on, using that word as a guiding force throughout the year.
Last year was particularly stressful for me and unfortunately, not having handled it well, negatively impacted my health. So my aim for this year is to nurture my frazzled nervous system, and take steps to handle stress in a way that doesn't lead to burn out.
3 small things
This year I'm trying something new. Along with choosing my word for the year ('nurture'), I'll be introducing three small things to my daily routine to support that word. These will be:
1 - Set an alarm every hour of my working day to stop what I'm doing and spend a few minutes stretching, along with some deep breathing exercises.
2 - Eat lunch away from my office (as a self confessed workaholic I'm guilty of not taking proper breaks and eating while being distracted with other tasks (which turns out is SO bad for your nervous system).
3 - Get to bed by 10.30pm every night. Stress has disrupted my sleep terribly, so I hope to re-set my sleeping pattern. I'm sure this won't be easy to begin with, but it's my non negotiable, as sleep is so incredibly important!
I'm hoping to make these three small things a habit so doing them will become second nature. Then I'll go ahead and add another three small things to my day - for example, I could elevate my half hour lunch break with a five minute meditation before I eat.
You may be thinking what's the point of introducing such small, seemingly insignificant tasks to your day, assuming they'll have little impact. But starting with small, realistically manageable things is the key.
For example, I really need to get into shape but as January is a particularly busy time for me, I know it would be completely unrealistic to say I'll put aside time to workout four times a week. But what I can easily do is get up from the computer every hour, do some stretches and refocus my eyes for a few minutes. Or I could add a 20 minute walk each day after breakfast.
It's the small habits that build up to make a long term difference to our lives.
What do you think - can you think of three small things to add to your day that over time will have a big impact? I'd love you to share your ideas in the comments.
Elizabeth x
p.s.
If you some big goals in mind for 2026, set yourself up for success with my comprehensive Goals Workbook (available as a hardcover and as inserts for your planner).
