Happy New Year!!!
Tis the time of year to re-evaluate your goals, but please be kind to yourself. Trying to stick to 10 New Year's Resolutions or more is too stressful and not realistic. Narrow down your goals to between 1 to 5 at most.
The only way to make real changes is not to just state a goal, but to state a plan to achieve that goal. According to author Charles Duhigg’s of the Power of Habit, it also important to think of cues that will help direct you to a desired behavior.
Here are my New Year's Resolutions. They are focused on the same topic: achieving inner peace. After the trials and tribulations of 2012 I feel a strong need to feel more centered.
New Year's Resolutions for 2013:
1) Learn TM Meditation. I am in perpetual motion and I feel the need to "To be still and know..."
a) Plan: I've contacted a TM instructor close to my town and will be setting a date for training in the next week. I have put a continual reminder on my calendar, so I will be haunted by the need to set the date.
b) Cue: Opening the shaded in my son's room after he leaves for school. It faces East. The rise of the sun reminds me that it is time to meditate.
2) Do Yoga Daily 10 minutes in the morning and at night. Yoga stretches seem to be the best thing for my lower back and the general stiffness I feel in the morning. These same stretches help release the tension of the day in the evening.
a) Plan: Do 10 minutes of yoga in the morning before meditating and 10 minutes in the evening after I get ready for bed.
b) Cue: After the kids leave for school in the morning, the same ritual of opening the East facing shades in my son's room will remind me to stretch before I meditate. The cue for the evening's yoga session is the completion of my bed time ritual. Yoga in pajamas is very relaxing.
3) Go to the gym daily and lift weights. I am already pretty good about doing this, but I have been lazy about lifting weights which is important to do as you get older and begin to lose muscle mass.
a) Plan: Go to the gym as soon as the kids leave for school. Do not pass GO and get on the computer... it is to easy too jump into my work day by doing this.
b) Cue: Laying out my gym clothes at night and dressing in them in the morning. Cue at the gym to lift weights will to bring my weight machine chart. Charting helps me to remember to increase my endurance by reminding me to increase my weight level every week.
I wish you focus, and discipline to achieve your New Year's Resolutions. I hope my resolution examples will help you to create your own plan of action.
Sincerely,
Diane
