Living Our Best Lives in the New Year
It’s the first week of the new year, when our resolutions are still shiny and new and unbroken. As a healthcare provider, there are a few resolutions I consistently hear clients talking about (regardless of whether it’s a new year or the middle of July!):
- Growing family and friend relationships.
- Cultivating their value at work.
- Improving fitness.
While I can’t give you a step-by-step guide to achieving all of these things, I have learned tools for creating your own map and sticking with the journey.
- Pay attention to what you want, not what you don’t.
In martial arts, we study balance. An important principle of balance is that where the head goes, the body follows. You must keep your head pointing in the direction you want to move.
The same is true for life. Our actions go where our vision goes. If we’re focused on not eating a brownie, soon all we can think about is brownies, and we are more likely to end up eating the whole pan. A more effective approach to living well is focusing on what we want: to go for a walk, to read books with our children, to cook dinner with our partner, or to pick up the phone and call or text a friend.
A Native American proverb states that there are two wolves that live inside us. One is evil, full of anger, worry, and greed. The other is good, full of love, compassion, and peace. The two wolves are in a battle. The one we feed the most is the one that wins.
- Use precommitment: planning ahead.
Precommitment means planning what you will do to avoid obstacles that would derail you from meeting your goals. This could mean setting your alarm for ten minutes earlier in the morning so you can finish your physical therapy exercises before your day gets busy, or doing dinner prep on the weekends, so you have more time to help your kids with their homework on week nights.
As you practice precommitment, reach out to people who can help you come up with ideas for tackling those obstacles. If you want to grow in your job, ask someone you respect in your field if they could serve as a professional mentor, or if you could take them to lunch and ask them questions.
Of course, for increasing fitness, a healthcare provider is a great resource. Creating health plans with clients is one of my favorite parts of my job. Read my blog about precommitment for more practical ideas and schedule an appointment if you would like assistance in coming up with a plan to help you move more and feel better.
- Start small; grow big.
Your resolutions should be doable. We don’t start with 50-pound weights; we start with 5 pounds. If it’s the end of January and you still haven’t enacted your plan, your plan is too hard. Set your sight on an action that is easier for you to take right now, as you are. Haven’t run a mile yet? Try walking to the mailbox. Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work. Park at the end of the parking lot so you walk farther to get to the store. Believe it or not, the great Bruce Lee employed those exact strategies, and couldn’t we all be a little more like Bruce? The sense of accomplishment you feel when you achieve a smaller goal will give you the energy you need to do something harder.
If I had to summarize my advice for a healthy life into one sentence, it would be a short one: eat well, sleep enough, and move around (which happens to be the secret to avoiding the doctor entirely).
- Enjoy the now .
Planning ahead is good – I’ve already suggested you do it! – but a healthy life is one in which planning is balanced with being present in the moment.
In a research study aided by an app called Track Your Happiness , it was found that, “[P]eople are substantially less happy when their minds are wandering than when they’re not.” The researchers probed a little deeper to try to determine whether our minds wander because we are unhappy, or if we tend to be unhappy because our minds wander. The evidence seems to be shaping up that it’s the latter: a wandering mind makes us less happy.
Being mindful of the present is a habit, just like exercising. Some people start with small steps, like asking themselves a series of short questions throughout the day, such as, What does the room I am in feel like? Is it hot or cold? Can I feel my feet on the ground? What is my breathing like? Can I slow my breath down? What does it feel like to take a deep breath?
Any small question that draws your attention to the physical sensations you are experiencing can help you begin to notice your present.
While you’re in the moment, find something to be thankful for. Again, it can be something small. You can be grateful for how good your morning coffee tastes. Thankful for the hug your child just gave you. Thankful to be wearing your favorite pair of shoes.
Studies have shown that gratitude has many benefits for our health, including improving our sense of wellbeing. Gratitude can help us keep our balance, standing in the present while looking up and ahead at the life we are creating.
