How to Make a Change for the New Year

What would have the most significant change in 2020 for you?

Each January, I make the list — as I have for many years — of all the things I want to give up or do better. 

•  I want to be healthier
• I want to give up drinking
• I want to save money this year
• I want to be a better sister, daughter, wife, and mother

In other words, I want to do this thing called “life,” better. The truth is that I never stick to my list of goals. I have too many and they are all things I should do better. And, history shows us that we can’t change everything at once. What we can do, is to decide what is that one thing that would improve our life the most significantly and focus on that.

There’s a saying that a rising tide raises all boats. For me, that means that if you significantly improve one area of your life – you will see a positive change in all areas of your life. 

For me, I decided to give up drinking alcohol last year. I had had enough – there was no big drunk moment – just a series of not feeling my best, knowing that occasionally I had too much and that if my overall health was my priority – the empty calories were not helping.  

Let me be clear, I liked red wine. I liked the feel of stepping into my ‘off time’ with a glass or two. It was a habit. Not a daily habit, but a habit. So, stopping was not as simple as just deciding to do it and it was over. It took saying no to wine over and over at social functions. Having my friends ask what was going on. Not wanting to have the focus on me made this difficult. And then, one day, it got easy. I quit thinking – “oh it’s Friday, wouldn’t it be nice to have a glass of wine?” It just stopped being an issue.

I have wondered about posting this information for those of you that read this. Does it mean I will never have a glass of wine ever again? No. For now, wine does not serve me and for the most part, I don’t partake.

 Alcohol may not be your issue – but I’m sure you have an area of your life that, if different, would make your life better.

For me, this was a significant change in my health and overall wellbeing. If you have a big change that you want to make, let me give you a few suggestions.

• Be clear what you want to give up or add into your life
• Be clear about what that change will do for you – you must clear about your why.
• Tell someone you trust. Research says that if you have a goal, you are 30% more likely to achieve it if you write it down. Even more likely to achieve it if you say it out loud. Saying it out loud makes us accountable.

Let me know what your priority will be for 2020. You can always say it out loud here or get in touch to tell me personally.

I will hold you accountable and you can do the same for me. 

Happy New Year!