RESOLUTIONS

I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. They often don’t survive into February, and they rarely result in lasting change. They are often born from the guilt of falling short of our potential the previous year, or regret from not accomplishing previously set goals.

As we count down to the New Year - in quiet reflection, we may realize that we lived most of the last year on autopilot, allowing our instincts and appetites to dictate many of our actions. We recognize that we lacked discipline. We regret being lazy, sleeping in, skipping the gym, eating junk food, and losing patience with loved ones. And during that quiet moment before the ball drops, we promise that THIS year will be different. Unfortunately, our tendency is to lose the same 10 pounds that we gain back months later, purchase the gym membership that will go unused, or make a single entry in the same journal that only has a few pages filled in after 10 years.

We love making resolutions but struggle to keep them. How do we break this cycle and stop making faulty resolutions in exchange for lifechanging results?

Set Resolutions for The Right Reasons

If you conduct PMEs in your practice, this should resonate with you. When we interview a potential practice member, we dig much deeper than what their initial concerns or symptoms are. We explore how their concerns are impacting their quality of life, and more importantly, how that makes them feel about themselves.

The deepest reason to be motivated for change is a recognition that you don’t like the way you feel in your current situation. Then, we can then set a new goal for ourselves and attach a new emotion to that destination. Ultimately, the reason to set a resolution is to achieve a new emotional state.

Don’t Wait for The Outcome. Enjoy The Feeling of Living Your Resolutions Now

You don’t have to finish a marathon to feel the accomplishment and satisfaction of being a long-distance runner. The moment you make the decision to run a marathon, and you begin training, you ARE a long-distance runner. You’re not a runner because of the race. You’re a runner because you wake up early, lace up your shoes, train, stretch, eat well, and live with discipline.

The beautiful thing about understanding that the emotion is the real goal is that we no longer have to hope to one day achieve it. We get to live in that future now. The key, of course, is that we only get to enjoy the feeling as long as we consistently live the lifestyle.