A New Year, A New Me
ECO EM’S BLOG
A NEW YEAR, A NEW ME
How many times have we heard that?
Over the years I know I’ve found myself thinking of the New Year as a clean slate, making a list of all the things I’m going to do better and how I can improve myself for the year ahead.
However, with all the gusto and will power I could muster this only ever lasted a few weeks maybe a month or so at max. How many people do you see join the gym in January or start a diet or pick up a new hobby, none of which stand the test of time.
THE SEVEN MOST COMMON NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS ARE
- Exercise more
- Lose weight
- Better organised
- Learn a new skill
- Quit smoking
- Save money
- Get fitter
If any of the above are on your list this year I have a little secret to share with you, and once you learn this your new years resolutions are going to be that bit easier to keep…..
Humans are creatures of habit, for example you start the new year off at a new gym. You’re a busy mum so you plan to get up at 5.30am every morning to get the gym before 6am. Then home for 7am get the kids ready for school and off you pop for a full day at work. After that you pick the kids up, complete the multitude of tasks around the house and look after a family in the evening before bed. Simple!
Only problem is you don’t consider how exhausting that is, the early nights you need to have to ensure you get plenty of rest to recover from the extra exercise. And factoring in that you haven’t been to the gym since before the pandemic and going 3 times a week for the first 3 weeks has made your body hurt from head to toe.
At which point you’re 3 weeks in throwing in the towel because its not sustainable and berating yourself because you’re an awful person who can’t keep a new year’s resolution!!
BUT WHAT IF YOU KNEW ABOUT HABIT STACKING?
Let’s look at this from another angle, the busy mum who wants to start exercising more already gets up at 6.30am before everyone else in the house. She has 30 minutes in the morning of peace and quiet, she usually feeds the dog and does the washing. Rather than trying to fit in a full hour’s exercise and go to the gym you can pair a desired new habit with one you already do.
The night before she starts to leave a kettlebell and some weights in the kitchen. As soon as the dog is fed and the kettles on, she does a 10-minute routine, in her pjs, in her kitchen waiting for her tea to brew. This will be much easier to sustain for several reasons, there’s no excuse not to, pairing the exercise with the usual day to day routine, it’s slow and steady so the body doesn’t burn out, you can gradually increase time and add variety, the list goes on.
I learnt this little trick from Dr Rangan Chatterjee and it’s changed my perspective massively and helped me to implement a variety of desired habits into my life. I struggle with will power; I won’t lie but I love habit pairing. It allows me to add things into my life which I know I’ll benefit from and allows me to continue to do them once the novelty has worn off.
This year I’m not making New Years resolutions I plan to continue to learn, spending my time educating myself on my business and enjoying overcoming all the hurdles this brings with it. If you’ve started your New Year’s resolutions let me know what you’ve found easy and not so easy.
And please don’t forget to make time for yourselves, enjoy some time to yourself in whatever shape that takes and prioritise self-care.
Thank you for reading this weeks blog, A New Year, A New Me.
Peace and love,
Eco Em xx
