Resolutions that Stick
We are over a month into 2020 and already, it’s happened. Most of our New Year’s resolutions have been forgotten or abandoned. While dealing with our hectic lives, the resolutions we once were so committed to now have fallen off our radar. Where did that resolve go? What happened to the determination to better ourselves? How can we stay motivated to replace old habits with wiser choices and create a fresh start for ourselves?
Change is a difficult journey and can feel impossible at times because it triggers our innate alarm system. The amygdala, our brain’s built-in alarm, does not like change. A change could indicate trouble and consequently, the amygdala signals our body to secrete stress hormones and retrieve distressing thoughts and feelings in order to drive us back to our place of comfort, back to our old habits.
But you are more capable of change than you know. Every day we make hundreds of unconscious changes. You constantly adapt to the stressors life throws at you. The more changes we incorporate into our lives, the better our brain learns how to handle and adapt to changes. Planned change, like making a New Year’s resolution, can still make us uncomfortable. We know it is happening. We may not initially like it, but we have time to prepare for the discomfort change brings.
When our New Year’s resolutions fall short and goals are left unfinished or never really begun, it is not a lack of desire, but our brain’s innate alarm system that shuts us down. To the brain, change, even planned change, is dangerous. Therefore, to create lasting change and establish new habits, the goal must be based on what we truly value in life and who we are as human beings. This intrinsic focus can make lasting changes. To help identify your goals and the behaviors necessary to reach those goals we created the Lifestyle Ledger. Using this tool will help you align with the person you want to become and evoke lasting lifestyle changes. Once you have identified what you value, choose the behaviors to get there, and become accountable for those behaviors, real lasting change happens. When change is based on what we deeply value and believe in, then change is not just a temporary division, but a return to who we truly are as a person. Contact us to learn more about the Lifestyle Ledger and coaching accountability available to you through Summit Wellness.