Just a few things to help you plan out your journey for 2022.
Affirmations only work if you believe them. I love affirmations, but many people will tell you, "they don't work for me." Affirmations need alignment with belief. I truly believe that as you put into words what you believe in your spirit, you will see a change.
The strategy for reaching your goals is more important than the goals themselves. Strategy, strategy, strategy! You need to plan your way to your goals. It's not enough to say you're gonna lose 30 lbs, if you do not have a STRATEGY for eating better, being more active, and/or working to have a healthy self-image. For more, check out this video I posted a while ago called Systems > Goals.
Lasting, incremental change isalways more effective than major, abrupt change Small, consistent change is effective and more importantly...managable! If you have not read Atomic Habits by James Clear please add it to your reading list!
Make the journey enjoyable. If you wait until a certain destination to be happy, you'll never get there. Enjoy the journey!! If you fall in love with the process, you won't give up so easily. Trying to just force your way through by discipline alone is rarely effective for anybody. You have to build in motivation via excitement, joy, and things that naturally keep you interested. I you don't know what to build in, start by making lists of what bring you joy and what doesn't.
Always have gratitude for who and where you are right now while working towards better. I am rarely effective when I'm not happy, I'm rarely happy when I'm out of gratitude. Gratitude will help keep you in a space of changing out of love for yourself vs. changing out of hate for yourself. Gratitude also helps give you perspective that there is always something good happening in your life, even in bad times.
Take ownership. Accountability partners are great, but your success cannot solely depend on others keeping you on track. I always advocate for having an accountability group, but we can't ignore that the more consistent and effective accountability will come from within. Who knows you better than you? Who knows your triggers better than you? Who knows how bad you want this better than you? YOU are enough, others are just there to support YOUR journey.
Actions are a reflection of your internal condition. Changing what you do requires you to change how you think. I know this has been beaten to death, but it is very true. "As a man thinks, so is he." Any visible change in your life will always start in the invisible realm of your heart and mind.
Often times we focus on weaknesses or what we don't do well, but what would happen if you made the things you do well even better? I heard this years ago and it was so profound to me. We spend so much time and focus on what we don't do well that we rarely spend time improving or building upon what we can do really well. There are places in your life that you aren't starting at zero, why not take this to exceptional levels rather than just taking the zero areas to mediocre levels?
YOU NEED QUIET TIME.Quiet time is my favorite thing in the whole world. When you always have a full plate and no time to think clearly, quiet time becomes your sanctuary. I do all my best thinking when I'm trying not to think at all. For me, this is most effective in the morning before I start my day, but find the time that works best for you and remove all noise and distraction and just be.
Be patient with yourself. No great work of art is created quickly. It takes time, attention to detail, and consistent effort. The YOU you are working towards is worth the wait, the effort, the time, the consistency, etc. Remember: small, consistent changes build up to big victories. Don't focus on "how long," focus on that 1% change ever day.