Hello friends, it’s been a while!
The new year is a great time for wiping slates clean and starting afresh and if you’re anything like me, that feels like wanting to burn everything down that was there before and making sure it works this time. Except it doesn’t usually turn out that way, at least for me.
The problem is that we can never wipe our own slates clean because short of developing amnesia, we’re still there in our heads. 14 year old you who wanted to kiss someone but they liked your best friend. 20 year old you who drank too much and told everyone what you thought of them. 27 year old you who really shouldn’t have stayed out all night before a presentation but did and made a right mess of it.
That’s all there and so we never really see ourselves as others do. We have so many filters on ourselves and we only seem to bring up the bad, cringing stuff of us at our worst. But that’s not a full view, just like someone who only met us for 5 minutes and loved us doesn’t have a full view.
But really, does anyone have a real view of another person? There’s always private stuff that no one else sees and there’s always someone who sees things in you that you’d never think was amazing without it being pointed out to you first. It’s just what you do and who you are.
So with that being said, maybe we should take a look at ourselves from a different perspective. Instead of looking at all the negatives that we already know and have ingrained into our brains, how about we look at the good things. How about we take it up a notch and look at the good side of the things we don’t like?
How much inspiration would that give us and how many different ways would we find to achieve the thing we want to do?
For example, instead of saying that you’re easily distracted, how about saying you’re endlessly inspired? Instead of insisting that you’re lazy, maybe you need more rest. Maybe you want to lose weight but keep getting drawn to the chocolate cupboard? Get rid of the chocolate cupboard or work out what you’re missing that keeps you coming back to it.
When you need inspiration, look at why you’ve missed the mark previously and what keeps stopping you. Is it lack of motivation or is it because the goal is boring? Is it that you’re lazy or is it because the goal is so big and overwhelming?
Once you’ve found that point and what the problem is, get creative in your solutions. Maybe you need to split it down into smaller steps – you’re still going to achieve the goal, you just need to do it a little more slowly to make sure you get there in one piece. Maybe you need to cut down instead of giving everything up in one go!
Trying to make sense of what’s going on can be overwhelming but I’d really encourage you to spend some time on working out what it is you really want and how you can make it easier to achieve. Work out what would make it a pleasure rather than a chore, it will make it much more enjoyable to do. Make it specific too because ‘I just want to feel healthier’ doesn’t tell you when you’ve got there and can celebrate!
So now I’m off to set mine because wishy washy isn’t going to get this year started 🙌💖