Reinvent Yourself For 2015

Reinvent Yourself For 2015!

It's that time of year again. The time of year that we imagine the arrival of a new year will magically provide the catalyst, motivation and persistence we need to reinvent ourselves.

Traditionally, New Year’s Day is styled as the ideal time to kick start a new phase in your life and the time when you must make your all important new year’s resolution. Unfortunately, the beginning of the year is also one of the worst times to make a major change in your habits because it’s often relatively stressful time, right in the middle of the party and vacation season.

Don’t set yourself up for failure in 2015 by vowing to make huge changes that will be hard to keep. Follow these easy steps for success in making a new year’s resolution you can stick to for good.

1. Pick one!

You can't change your whole life and lifestyle at the same time it won’t work. Pick one area of your life to change and start there. Make it something concrete so you know exactly what change you’re planning to make. If you’re successful with the first change you can go ahead and make another change after a month or so. By making small changes one after the other, you still have the chance to be a whole new you at the end of 2015 and it’s a much more realistic way of doing it.

2. Plan ahead

To ensure success you need to research the change you’re making and plan ahead so you have the resources available when you need them. Here are a few things you should do to prepare and get all the systems in place ready to make your change. Plan for success – Get everything ready so things will run smoothly. If you’re taking up running make sure you have the trainers, clothes, hat, glasses, ipod loaded with energetic sounds at the ready. Then there can be no excuses.

3. Anticipate problems

There will be problems that's life so make a list of what they’ll be. If you think about it, you’ll be able to anticipate problems at certain times of the day, with specific people or in special situations. Once you've identified the times that will probably be hard you work out ways to cope with them when it happens.

4. Pick a start date

You don’t have to make these changes on New Year’s Day. If you truly want to make changes then pick a day when you know you’ll be well-rested, enthusiastic and surrounded by positive people.

5. Go for it

Do everything 100%. Make a commitment and write it down on a card. You just need one short phrase you can carry in your wallet. Or keep it in your car, by your bed and on your bathroom mirror too for an extra dose of positive encouragement.

Your commitment card will say something like:

·         I enjoy a clean, smoke-free life.

·         I stay calm and in control even under times of stress.

·         I’m committed to learning how to run my own business.

·         I meditate daily.

6. Failure Happens

If you do fail and sneak a cigarette, miss a walk, or shout at the kids one morning don’t hate yourself for it. Make a note of the triggers that caused this set back and vow to learn a lesson from them.

If you know that alcohol makes you crave cigarettes and oversleep the next day cut back on it. If you know the morning rush before school makes you shout then get up earlier or prepare things the night before to make it easier on you. Perseverance is the key to success. Try again, keep trying and you will succeed.

7. Reward Yourself

Small rewards are great encouragement to keep you going during the hardest first days. After that you can probably reward yourself once a week with a magazine, a trip to the movies or whatever you like. Later you can change the rewards to monthly and then at the end of the year you can pick an anniversary reward. Something that you’ll look forward to. You deserve it and you’ll have earned it.