New Beginnings…

As 2017 starts, many of us are thinking about changes, intentions, and, of course, resolutions!

The trouble with resolutions is they look so good on paper, but that's often as far as they go!

Here are some of the usual resolutions … how many of these have you made for yourself?

• Lose weight.
• Quit smoking.
• Exercise.
• Eat healthier.
• Give up sugar.
• Get organized.
• Play more.
• Spend more time with family.
• Quit drinking.
• Get a new job.
• Save money.
• Manage stress better.
• Travel.
• Stop procrastinating.
• Get rid of old clothes.
• Get more sleep.
• Work on my relationship.
• Spend less time on the computer.
• Watch less TV and Netflix.
• Be more generous.
• Be less judgmental.
• Smile more.

If you've made resolutions in the past, I bet you see some of them on the list!

So what goes wrong?

Possible Scenario

New Year's Day. You make a decision to make some changes this year and make a list of your resolutions.

January 2nd (or 3rd or 4th or whatever). You resume your usual life and probably haven't even thought of those resolutions.

A Different Option

New Year's Day. You make a decision to make some changes this year and make a list of your resolutions. AND you (1) prioritize and (2) make a plan.

The Plan

Let's say your number one priority is HEALTHIER EATING.

After you’ve identified what is most important for you to work on, the next step is to make a plan, such as:

1. Commitment, be specific. For instance you might decide to cut out bread or not eat after 7 pm or eliminate sugar – start with one do-able action;
2. Write it on your calendar – are you starting tomorrow? The day after? Write your commitment on the calendar to remind yourself;
3. Tell someone your commitment or invite a buddy to join you in eating healthier.

After a day or two – find a way to reward yourself for sticking with your commitment (it can be as simple as taking a bubble bath or watching something on TV or Netflix or just shouting out, “Hurrah, I did it!”). And continue to reward yourself for sticking with it – you decide what reward you want – buying a new pair of jeans, mani-pedi, whatever feels good to you!

Perhaps, however, you notice that after a few days you haven’t followed through with your commitment and you are mad at yourself. If this happens, you can journal about it – how important is healthy eating to you? Is this something you want to do for yourself? Or maybe this is a “should” and a part of you is rebelling. Journaling will help you get to the underlying reason you didn’t follow through.

Resolutions + a commitment + a plan = the way to really make the changes you want!

SourceTapping®

A tool that can help you keep your commitment (anything from eliminating emotional eating to stopping procrastination to managing stress) is my favorite energy psychology technique – SourceTapping®. It is especially useful this time of year to help keep your resolutions (commitments) and to also let go of the guilt and anguish when you aren’t following through. You know, if beating ourselves helped, we’d all be healthy by now. But it doesn’t – it just makes things worse.

So, if you are disappointed in yourself about the lack of follow through, take out the SourceTapping® script (available at SourceTapping.com), identify the intensity of the emotions, and do the tapping as directed, saying perhaps “I release these feelings….” Or “I release my disappointment with myself…” Or even, “I release my lack of follow-through.”

My hope is that you are kind and gentle with yourself and that you do make the changes you really want.

Wishing you a happy, healthy new year filled with many blessings,

PS Do you want some new beginnings for yourself? If you'd really like help in changing a behavior, my “Tap Cravings Away: The Fastest Method to Eliminate a Craving” online course can be used for many issues in addition to emotional eating. 

And I am offering my community (that includes YOU, a reader of my blog!) a huge discount – the course sells for $200 and it's yours for just $25 when you  CLICK HERE. 

A Facebook friend commented, “Just got through watching your class. You simplify things, even if the issue is not around food. Thanks so much for doing all the hard work to help others.” ~ Jerry Garrison

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