Ok, it’s New Year and I’m desperate to know how your New Year resolutions are going? Well done to those that are making the change, stick with it. Some surveys suggest it takes 6 weeks to form a new habit, that suggests that it takes six weeks to break an old one!! Hang on in there and don’t give up, if you do have a slight lapse and turning to the thing that you are trying to avoid for comfort, don’t beat yourself up , praise yourself for what you have already achieved and start again.

If you have already given up, what or who stopped you from reaching your goal? In many cases the answer will be OURSELVES! We begin by setting ourselves up to fail, we all know that eating nothing for a week in the hope that we will lose 3 stone is not realistic. Giving up smoking but not seeking help or substitutes, packet of cigarettes still in our bag, is the most difficult way to stop. Wanting to change a relationship but unwilling to talk to the other person. Change can be scary!!

As human beings we like routine and patterns, it can make us feel safe, not making the change will not take us out of our comfort zone, we may still be unhappy but we know where we stand. So if you want to make a change, begin with the end in mind, what does success look like to you? I’m going to take the example of weight, let’s take the focus away from losing weight and onto having a healthy body, everyone will have a different definition, what does a healthy body mean to you? What difference would it make if you had a healthier body? That is your motivation for change.

Our beliefs are also involved when making changes, you know the ones, “I’m big boned”, “I can’t help myself”, “I don’t eat anything”, and these are all excuses made by us to keep us in the old comfort zone. As easily as you learnt your old beliefs you can learn new ones, start today, positive affirmations are known to help people achieve their goals. If you are trying to lose weight, be kind to yourself say “I have a healthy body” or “I look after my body well”, before the old negative thought kicks in, yes you do have a healthy body, as you are already working towards change. Good luck with whatever you plan to change.