Forget New Year’s Resolutions — Here’s the Better Alternative

Every time the new year arrives, you come up with resolutions you are likely to neglect even before January ends. This is so common that you may not even feel guilty when you fail to follow through with the changes you wanted to make.

This bad practice has made New Year’s resolutions insignificant and nothing more than wishful thinking — which is rather sad because the intention of mindfulness is lost. Instead of improving your life in order to make you happier and more well-rounded, you only find yourself stuck in the same old habits you were supposed to get rid of.

So here’s a proposal: forget New Year’s resolutions! Focus on one thing that will truly make a difference — a tangible change in your lifestyle.

A lifestyle change is the better way

Changing your lifestyle helps you put things in perspective. It makes more sense than listing down resolutions because a lifestyle change can actually have an immediate impact in your everyday life. It’s more motivating and sustainable; easily letting you see how much better you could be if you keep it up for a long time.

Many lifestyle changes are measurable too, so you know when you are actually making progress. Establishing healthy eating habits, drinking more water, exercising — these are things that you can track.

Mindset is key

While it’s admirable that you are able to dream big, it is also important to ensure you’re setting realistic goals for yourself. Significant changes don’t happen overnight, and breaking unhealthy habits usually takes time.

Balance your expectations and pace yourself. Be open to other possibilities, which may be more practical than what you are wishing for.

All in the habit

You are the product of your habits. Your happiness, your success, your health, your life in general — they are the result of what you repeatedly do. If there is an aspect of your life that’s not bringing you satisfaction, you should take a closer look into your habits.

It takes a gradual process to establish new habits. But you can break it down into four fundamental stages: cue, craving, response, and reward. The cue is when you realize that something needs to change, and it triggers a craving for you to do better. This motivates you to come up with a “response” and take action in order to achieve your desired outcome, your “reward.”

Better you, better Philippines

Start on improving yourself and you’ll see how your personal changes can extend outwards to other people. If you learn how to take care of yourself, you give yourself the ability to contribute to society and be of service to your community and country.

Feeling good about yourself can inspire you to help others have the same experience. It motivates you to be more involved in your community or in causes that are close to your heart. Being involved in issues that matter to you drives you to actually do something and not just complain out of dissatisfaction.

A lot of people grumble about various things, but only a few can be relied upon to act. Strive to be different from the passive pessimists; even your small actions can make a huge difference.