True New Years Changes

New years resolutions usually involve less chocolate and more step counting, but is that really addressing the crux of our needs? While good health is part of the whole picture, there can be things more toxic to our health and well being than a few extra pounds. Take the unhealthy relationships like workplace bullying or back stabbing, for example. How about clutter and procrastination that are becoming self sabotaging? Among the most common and most damaging – how often are you living for other people's expectations?

The reason weight is so often tackled is that it is seen to have an easy course of action and it is a social lubricant like discussing the weather. Most people can relate and no one gets too far out of their comfort zone. So life goes on unchanged once the statistical percentage to fail at New Year's resolutions drops off in February. Old patterns are easily slipped into like a favorite flannel shirt and it won't be some time later in the year that you realize you are plodding in the same missteps as last year.
     

Breaking your cycle, whatever it may be, is not about repetitive action. Neither is it about a lone light bulb moment, but it is a continual conscious walking in a new direction that will become familiar at the next turn down the road. You won't notice yourself slipping into the new mold until you are in it for a while. Keep reminding yourself why you're doing what you're doing. Having a nagging notebook to read over holds you more accountable than telling others will.
     

A mission statement, while rescuing you from the cycle of failed resolution, is an organic way to chart out the path you truly want to take in life. Even if you have no idea of what your mission statement would be, write out a description of how you see your ideal life five years from now. It could be with more children, a house of your own, a shorter workweek, being debt free, enjoying a new hobby, travel, a deeper spiritual life, or healthier living. Write out everything — both the profound and the seemingly superficial. This list is your own private vision. It doesn't have to win awards.
     

Each segment of your life vision has a component of effort or reorganization of current priorities that will be necessary to reach it. Like the books on the secret to success say, simply writing your goals and dreams down make them more likely to happen. The simple reason is that when you say them out loud and record them, even if you forget about them, your subconscious won't, and will help you stumble upon opportunities to make them happen.
     

When you are making a decision or are struggling with negative feelings, pull out your list holding journal and examine what you called important to your life in a more clear moment. Often the urgent matters that stress us in the day to day are not the truly important ones.
     

Start the New Year keeping a journal of how you spend your day, including time actually spent. You will more readily be able to identify draining or time wasting activities, space for new endeavors, and will be able to be objective about things you may be currently underestimating such as hours of sleep per night.
     

Formulating a mission statement and starting to work on it does not necessitate drastic action such as signing up for an expensive gym membership, throwing out all your possessions, or making any sort of dramatic regimen. All it means is that you will be living your life on something closer to what you value and that is a very good thing.