A New Year Done a New Way (Part 2)

I have to lose 25 pounds this year.  

I have to find a better balance and be more organized with my time.  

I have to save more money.

Wow, those sound so harsh and so very final, don’t they???

Unfortunately … that’s what happens this time of year.

Now that we are approaching the end of the year and are bombarded with an endless media stream of weight loss programs, gym memberships, relationship and dating ads, and ‘new you’ promises … it is REALLY easy to fall into making statements that start with ‘I have to’.

Believe me, I get it.

As I shared in Part 1 of the A New Year Done a New Way blog post at the beginning of December … I too have made the same resolutions and have gotten sucked in to the ‘new you’ transformation each year … only to give up after a few weeks and hit the closest bag of Doritos and tub of Ben & Jerry’s.

And, in all seriousness … we so easily show care, compassion and kindness to others in our lives … so why don’t we do it for ourselves?

We wouldn’t tell our best friend that they are a failure if they reached for the Doritos ... would we?

Sooooo … what if we do things differently this year?

What if we join together as a community and stop the cycle?

So now you may be thinking … what exactly does this mean??

What if we let go of the need for a ‘new you’ and we embrace, love and treat with compassion and kindness the ‘current you’?

What if we reframed the above statements and broke them down into small steps that we can do together ….

It would look something like this:

I choose to embrace, accept and take care of my body.

And in the next week I choose to take the first step and commit to sleeping 7 hours each night. (Vulnerably, I have been struggling getting enough sleep this year so this is personal for me).

In the second week I choose to set my alarm 5 minutes early and take the time to stretch my body and drink 8 ounces of water before starting my day.

Seems a bit more achievable, right?

I get that we may not be able to commit to 7 hours of sleep just yet … but can we commit to working towards this goal?

If we begin any change from a place of self-compassion and kindness:

There is no ‘failing’ … no punishment … and no judgement.

Sooooo … can we care about and love ourselves enough to take one small step together?

After all, don’t we all deserve that?

Let’s together commit to starting the journey to more compassion and start now with 7 hours of sleep.

Will you join me?

Without sounding too much like a Home Depot ad:

Let’s Do This …. Together!

So much love,

Jenn