New Year! New You!

Come on it is 2023 and whatever 2022 didn’t let you do this year will go to the gym, stop eating meat, and actually plan that trip. The best and most successful personal challenges are the simplest and with a lot of planning you can stick to them but they have to be right and realistic for you and your lifestyle.

Do not listen to social media, get pressured and overwhelmed, feeling you should be something or become something that isn’t right for you. People put a lot of pressure on themselves and others at this time of year and in the words of Jack Whitehall “why January? People need to back off January” he is right, one small change can impact the year and your forever list of resolutions and self-improvements.

Let Relo encourage, motivate, and never pressure, with these simple yet effective tips to realistically complete those goals.

Let’s Start…

Three days in and I am not letting you give up! The majority of new year’s resolutions fail because they’re not the right resolutions.

Ask yourself, why you have set yourself this goal. 

Is it because…

• “Instagram told me too”
• “This woman on Twitter says writing a book is easy”
• “That guy only does a few sit-ups on TikTok and he has a six-pack”
• “My friends don’t eat meat and they look better”

If social media or someone else is influencing you, do it.

STOP!

This is not a valid reason to ever do anything.

Ask yourself, why are you giving up?

Is it because….

• “I don’t know how to start”
• “I will do it later or tomorrow. I have the whole year to do it.”

Your new year’s resolution is too vague, instead of “get fit” change it to “walk 10,000 steps a day” with specific goals you can make a realistic plan that fits with your lifestyle and can become part of your routine, therefore, something you actually will stick with after January.

How to Plan  

Think goals, think SMART! This acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. This technique works when you have multiple goals to meet in order to complete the target.

Specific. 

As said previously, set a concrete goal:

“I will lose 5 pounds in 2 months” vs “I will lose weight this year”

The more detailed the better that way you can visualize doing it.

Measurable. 

Whatever the goal, it can be measured. Log your process by writing it in a journal, taking a photo, putting it in an app, and tracking your behaviours will reinforce your progression and give you that boost of self-motivation to keep it up.

“Stop biting your nails”

Take a photo of the first day, then the first week and keep tracking, you will see your nails grow and you will not go back.

Achievable. 

Dream big of course but start small. Aiming too high too quickly will either alter your life to a point that it affects other aspects and will not become a long-term solution or you will leave yourself frustrated from giving up.

“I will retire at the age of 35” vs “I will put £500 a month in my savings”

Relevant. 

Ask yourself

“Why am I doing this?” “How will this improve my life?” “Is this goal the right for me?” “Am I doing this for the right reasons?”

Psychologically if we do something for more than 3 weeks then it becomes a habitat and part of our life routine. If you are doing something you want to do and is right for you then you can build up the process and make it a habit, if not then you need to stop and rethink and answer the questions above. Use these as a guide.

Time-bound. 

The timeline you set for your goals needs to be realistic, small wins need to be celebrated just as much as big ones. Giving yourself enough time to focus on the smaller picture will then make you complete the bigger one and not make you stress and focus on the time it takes.

Giving yourself a year to fit into your wedding dress will make it let stressful and more enjoyable than needing to be 2 sizes smaller in the space of 8 weeks.

The author of “The Power of Habit” and a former New York Times writer, Charles Duhigg,  claims: “If you’re building a habit, you’re planning for the next decade, not the next couple of months.”

Prevent Past Failures

What was your 2022 new years resolution? Is it the same as the 2023s?

If so rethink, if you believe that you have tried this and failed then you will have lower self-esteem and belief that you can do it, so alter the goal instead.

“Walk 2 miles a week” vs “Run 2 miles a week”

By doing this you will be more likely to see results and feel better.

Reaching for the same goal can be attained but review what you have previously done and evaluate what worked, what didn’t work, and how can you prevent this from becoming 2024’s goal.

Remember Change Takes Time

It took years for you to have those unhealthy or undesired behaviours you want to change so you cannot expect to adapt in a few days. Be kind to yourself and patient with enough motivation, planning and ambition you can do it. Making mistakes and missing a step or two is natural, you can restart at any time there are no time constrictions.

Never give up on your journey!

Post your progress on Instagram, and don’t forget to tag us @relo_rooms