Happy New Year Friend!
I hope that your holiday season went as well as possible and that you have emerged from the other side with some energy left over because goodness, it can be a hectic time!
I'm easing slowly back into work mode after a much needed break with lots of rest, lots of sleep and doing nothing work related at all.
I had a lovely Christmas lunch with my little family which we have on Christmas eve, then watched my boys set up my Christmas gift which is a keyboard stand and stool.
Iv'e had my keyboard for over 10 years but rarely ever used it as the effort of getting it out of the box, set up on the table and then packing it up again was just too much so it's been sitting in the wardrobe upstairs, unused.
Well, not any more!
Now it's all set up in my lounge room because Iv'e decided that this is the year I finally learn how to play!
I'm doing a little practice every day, working at my own pace and really enjoying it so far.
I am being patient with myself because learning anything new is challenging and it takes time, effort and consistency to create new habits, form new skills and embed new knowledge into your mind.
Change is hard which is why so many people never do it and the start of any new year is the perfect time to see the reality of this when everyone starts their New Year resolutions and all the articles about 'New Year, New You' begin to appear.
There can be a lot of pressure to make changes at the start of a new year because it's generally a time when we reflect on the year that was and it's usually focused on all the things that we don't like about ourselves and our lives.
But New Year resolutions rarely work because they are built on the wrong foundation which is usually shame and guilt and they rely solely on will power which is a very limited resource that quickly runs out in about 7 to 12 days.
Then you fall off the wagon, undo all the gains that you made whether it was diet, exercise or giving up drinking or smoking and then you feel even worse about yourself than you did before.
There are so many ways that you can feel pressured to change something about yourself, whether it's to change how you look, how you feel or do what you think you 'should' be doing, but there is only ever one valid reason to change anything about yourself or your life Friend and that's because you want to.
Not for your partner, not for your family, your doctor or anyone else.
For you.
Because you want it.
Because you deserve it and because you are absolutely worth it.
Because you are willing to put in the work, effort and intense discomfort change entails because creating new habits takes 90 to 100 days to create a new neural pathway in your brain because that is what a habit is.
Everything you do habitually is something that you have done with enough consistency, repetition and intention that it is now just what you do because of the neural pathways you have created.
Our habits give us emotional security and if we can't do them, we feel antsy, uncomfortable and usually, very unhappy.
But if you understand how change actually works, when you have the right motivation pulling you forward without any shame or guilt and when your change is a conscious choice where you have set yourself up for success until the change becomes habit, then change is absolutely possible.
Which is how I've been able to make so many changes in my diet, mindset and life to help me create my best possible health, life and happiness living with Hashimoto's, Celiac, Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Type 1 Diabetes which included making the choice to be sugar free in October last year and making it stick.
So Friend if you are feeling the pressure to change something about yourself just because you feel that you should, please remember that the only reason you actually need to change anything about yourself or your life, is because you want to.
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
If you are feeling ready to make some changes for your life, health and happiness but you don't know how to start or how to make the changes stick without falling off the wagon or sabotaging yourself, then book in your FREE Discovery Session with me now online, no matter where you are in the world.
I would love to help you make this new year the beginning of creating some wonderful new habits, that will help you feel so much better about yourself and your life.
Warm wishes,
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