What Are You Waiting For?

The New Year is just around the corner.   Now is a great time to celebrate what you have accomplished this year and assess what can be done to make next year a better year.  How many New Year’s resolutions dropped off your radar by January 15^th?  How many of them never even made it past day one?  How would it feel to never have to make another resolution ever again?

Though, resolutions may seem like a great idea, statistics show that nearly 95% of people fail to keep them each year.  Stop being a part of the statistic!  The good news is, you don’t have to wait until the New Year and you don’t need a resolution.  What you need is a plan.  You’ve got to have a plan!  It was Benjamin Franklin who wisely reminded us, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!”  The key is setting practical, realistic and obtainable goals that will lead you toward the “New You” you’re desiring to become.  Here are three easy steps to help you see a “Healthier New You!”

• Step One - Decide Upon Your Goal

Decide upon your ultimate goal and realistically how long you want to take to obtain it.  Be totally honest with yourself about how much you really desire to meet this goal. You will need to take into account several things that you’ll need to accomplish your goal, such as:

• The amount of time you are able to set aside and when (before/after work, weekdays/weekends),
• The amount of effort it will take (physically, mentally, financially, emotionally),
• Who will be a part of your support team (friends, family, coach, trainer), as well as
• The reason you want to accomplish this goal (well-being, quality of life, look/feel better).

 

• Step Two - Put Your Plan In Place

If your goal has made it through Step One, now you can make a plan of action and put it into place.  Evaluate what you will need to do on a monthly, weekly and daily basis to meet your goal within your allotted time frame.  Outline your complete plan but fully complete a plan for Month 1.  Yes, one month. If there are tools already created that can assist you, by all means, use them! You don’t have to reinvent the wheel!

For instance - If your goal is to lose 50 pounds in ten months, outline your plan for the ten month period.  Then, for short-term goals, break your ten month plan down a month at a time.  Your short-term goal might be to lose 5 pounds a month.  This equates to about 1.25 pounds a week.  Your plan should include daily and weekly tasks that point you toward your five-pound a month goal.  If you have access to pre-planned meals, or recipes, use them.  If you follow your plan consistently, you will ultimately, reach your 50 pound goal.

Don’t beat yourself up if things didn’t go as intended.  If this is something you really want, the secret is to never give up!  You are right where you were meant to be! Also, remember to reward yourself for your accomplishments.  Don’t down play small steps, nothing is insignificant.   Celebrate the small victories!

• Step Three - Evaluate and Adjust

Each month, take the time to evaluate how well or how poorly you may have done.  Then adjust your plan accordingly for the following month.   If you are struggling in an area of your plan, be sure and make the necessary adjustments.  Evaluate if that portion of your plan can be modified, replaced or totally eliminated.  On the flip side, if part of your plan is working well, you might consider ramping it up a bit next month!  There’s a saying, “It’ll work if your work it!”  Work your plan!   Keep working it and working on it until you accomplish your goal.

Decide your goal.  Put your plan in place.  Evaluate and adjust as needed.  If you want a “Healthier New You” without all the hassle and guilt of unrealized New Year’s resolutions, you’ve got to do things differently!  With these steps, you won’t have the cloud of a failed New Year’s resolution hanging over your head to make you feel guilty.  In fact, you’ll more than likely find yourself smiling quite a bit as your progress becomes more and more evident.  These 3 easy steps will have you celebrating the New Year all year long!

                                      Happy New Year - Healthy New You! 

                 Dr. Ollie Anderson CPC, ELI-MP, AUTHORCHRISTIAN COUNSELOR

Life or Death?

As we start to settle our feet in the sands of 2015, I am sure we have all taken some time for a little self reflection.  We have looked back over the last year and taken stock of what we have done.  We have taken inventory of our lives to determine what we have left and what we need to gain.  We have given deep thought to our past decisions and assessed their effectiveness in our lives to this point.  We have done all of this to help us determine which path we will take moving forward.

How many of us have given thought to the fact that there is a grave difference between living and being alive? So, as we look back over not just 2014 but the years prior, I suspect not many of us have examined whether we are embracing life by loving the life we                                       live or just existing by merely avoiding death!

I was sharing with a friend of mine whose family member was diagnosed with a terminal disease.  In our humanness, when we get news like this, we tend to go into survival mode.  We often forget to embrace life and all it has to offer and immediately go into the caution zone.  Here we become afraid to live, laugh and enjoy life as if it will offend death in someway.  Truth be told, someone with a terminal illness can out live someone who is "fit as a fiddle!"  So, why not embrace those moments of love and joy that can never be replaced.  The worst thing that can happen is if your loved one does pass away, you'll have some wonderful memories to help you live on.

There are some of us who have not been given a grave diagnosis yet we live our lives as if we are just avoiding death.  Even when we do things such as eating right or exercising, we don't take the time to really enjoy the meal or the moment.  We just want to get it over because it will supposedly help us live longer, healthier lives but we don't like doing it.  If you are eating healthy it doesn't mean the food has to be awful. Try new recipes and savor every bite! Test yourself as you exercise.  Make a game of it.  Beat your last result or challenge a friend to a duel.  Enjoy the moment!

We tend to let the great moments pass by too quickly and linger much too long with the moments that are not so great.  

So, as you continue to walk through the sands of time, take the time to enjoy every God given moment that brings you joy and find a way to quickly dismiss the moments that don't.

You get to choose!

There is a coaching principle that states, "Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional."  You get to choose how long you want to suffer through the pain the waves of life wash upon your shore.  Though some waves are higher and more severe than others, if you learn to ride the waves and stay afloat, there's no wave you can not endure! Embrace the wave or risk drowning in the sea of life!

The next time you find yourself having to make a decision about how you are going to live your life, let one factor be whether the decision will help you embrace life or will it simply help you to avoid death!