2024 Resolutions?

Many of us start the new year making New Year’s resolutions based on how we failed in the prior year- exercise more, drink less, lose weight, travel more, reach out more to friends and family…

Do these sound familiar? They often make us feel bad about ourselves, and we set lofty goals that are almost always impossible to keep. Then we start the cycle all over again next year.

But what if, instead of focusing on what we resolve to DO, we focus on who we want to BE?

What do I mean?

• Instead of “I want to exercise three days a week for 40 minutes,”: “I want to feel good in my body, and that means moving more.”

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• Instead of “I am going to start meditating or writing in a journal daily,”: “I want to be more mindful of my thoughts and stress.”

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• Instead of “I’m going to yell at my kids less,”: “I want to learn to recognize my triggers, and work on deescalating my anger before it comes out.”

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Give yourself resolutions that you can keep, and that make you feel good about yourself, not bad.

And when you slip up, as you inevitably will, just start again. You are human and, believe it or not, you are not perfect. So don’t hold yourself to the standard of perfection.

We can all use a little self-compassion when it comes to our “failures.” When you learn to recognize these as learning experiences, you can adjust your perspective and move forward with less self-judgment and criticism.

We are all a work in progress. So long as you are making forward progress toward who you want to be, you will be keeping your resolutions for life.? ?