Thursday, January 2, 2014

New Years Resolutions....

So it's January 2nd, and after my recovery day yesterday...side note, why when I was younger, recovering from a night of debauchery only took a few hours, now I'm out of sorts for  a whole day.  Back to my musings....The web is all a twitter with rumblings of Resolutions, ways to better ourselves.  Really, why do we wait for this day if we really wanted to better ourselves, wouldn't we do it when we think about it, rather than waiting for 1/1??? Though, it does set up nicely to know that you bailed on the resolution 3 weeks into it exactly to the day.

And speaking of time, how long does it take to change a habit?  Some say 21 days, other's say 6 -8 wks, while others say up to a year?  What, that's a hell of a jump!  Can I sing up somewhere for the 21 days?  Now I'm no expert, but really, if it were only 21 days, we wouldn't bail on our gym memberships after just 3 weeks.  So it obviously isn't 21 days.  So, then 6 - 8 weeks, that sound a bit more like it, most things I've done for 6 - 8 weeks, I continue to do to this day.  But I know not everything can be changed in 6 - 8 weeks.  In that amount of time, some things just don't seem as hard as before (ie...that gym membership or quitting smoking) those things really require longer time periods to really solidify.  So that up to a year sounds about right.

And really shouldn't we spend as much time changing things we don't like about ourselves as we can, especially if we really want to change? I mean, nobody believes there is a magic pill that will change our bad habits, right.

So I was once one who routinely made resolutions on January 1, then bailed on them between January 12th and 25th.  Until I made 1 Resolution January 1, 2004 that I would not make another Resolution...which I can say I have faithfully kept!  Now that doesn't mean I don't change up bad habits.  I don't Resolve to do anything (Resolve is where we get Resolution from) I just get tired of something, and work to change it.
I decided I didn't want to drink Soda anymore, and stopped, I decided to drink coffee black, and quit using sugar and creamer, I got tired of buying clothes at specialty stores as I was to big to buy them off the rack, so I stopped eating for 3 and started walking and exercising.  None of which were started  on a pre-conceived day like January 1.

I think it's healthy to take stock of our lives at times, and change the things that no longer work for us (So you don't think you do that...well you don't really carry a My Little Pony lunchbox anymore do you?)  Changes don't have to be momentous, they can just be small. Take my change in Coffee; I used to use 2 teaspoons of sugar and a heaping splash of creamer in my coffee cup.  I started small, using only 1 teaspoon of sugar and the splash of creamer, then came 1 teaspoon of sugar and no creamer, then 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and finally straight black. Each phase lasted between 2 - 3 weeks.  And now I drink my coffee black.  Yes it took time, but I was able to cut a bunch of sugar and fat from my diet effectively and with durability in mind.  I don't miss it.  I won't go back.

So take some time to review your life, are you where you want to be? Do you have the job of your Dreams, is everything in your home just the way you want it?   If you answered no to any of these questions, take time to figure out what you can do to change, and start small and above all don't wait for some magical date like January 1, start right away, because procrastination only digs you a deeper rut to live in.

No comments:

Post a Comment