Making positive changes to your life, whether in the form of New Year’s resolutions or just anything you decide you want to change throughout the year should always be commended. It’s difficult to be able to look at your lifestyle through a critical eye and point out where you’re going wrong. Sometimes the intention is great, but the motivation to stick at it can be lacking. So while you really want to make these changes and stick to them, sometimes it’s just a whole lot easier to slip back into old habits. If you’ve had positive realizations recently, such as noticing you’re drinking too much alcohol, eating too much junk food, or not socializing enough, the next step is to make the changes and make them stick.
1. Start small
Don’t try to overhaul your entire life at once. The truth of the matter is, if you’re trying to change every aspect of your life in one go, chances are you’re more likely to fall off the track you’ve laid out for yourself. Making positive changes that stick is all about choosing small aspects of your lifestyle that you’d like to effect, and changing them one small piece at a time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was a healthy lifestyle. By all means, work with an end goal in mind, but don’t try to make that end goal a reality before you’re ready to accept the changes.
2. Track your progress
When you start small, you have the benefit of being able to celebrate the small victories. Set yourself goals, and give yourself a pat on the back when you achieve them. If that means cutting your drinking down to two glasses of wine a week, celebrate (although not with wine) when you’ve achieved that goal for four weeks in a row. Being able to follow your goals and your progress reaffirms your control over the situation, and keeps you grounded and in touch with the reasons you’re making these changes in the first place.
3. Accept help
Making important changes can be a really isolating experience, especially if it requires cutting out an area of your life that could be considered toxic and cause stress or anxiety. It’s important that you stay in touch with the positive influences and reach out to people who can help you. This could include local support groups or online support networks for people in similar positions to you. All of these are created to make your changes easier and to help you create constructive and healthy habits, so make sure you take advantage of what you have available.
4. Don’t sweat the slip-ups
You’re human, things will go wrong occasionally, and it’s totally fine. A small slip-up does not mean you have to start again or give up entirely. Making positive changes in your life can be difficult, so be sympathetic to yourself, and allow yourself to be forgiven.
Just remember, you can do it. It’s all about coming back to that positive mindset, whatever life throws at you.
