Welcome to 2023 - Happy New YeaR!

It’s funny, I have seen so many posts on social media about the New Year.

Whether or not your participate in New Years Resolutions or not.

Whether you are peeking around the door of 2023 waiting to see what arrives, or whether you are greeting it with optimism and excitement.

Many see the new year as a great opportunity for a clean slate and a to set new intentions or healthier habits. Do you?

Personally I am a great fan of using some of the festive holiday as a period of reflection - lessons learned over the year, recognising what has been accomplished and also planning how I would like the next year to look. My preferred method is by using a vision board and hanging it somewhere in my house that I pass every day, so I can see it.

Does it always go to plan - it would be nice if it did, but of course - No it hasn’t!

However, when things don’t go the way we want them I am reminded of something a good friend of mine from USA once said to me something I have never forgotten.

’… If it doesn’t go to plan don’t give up - just change the plan - not the goal…’

Anyway - I digress!!

I have been using vision board for around 10 years now and LOVE them. I love ticking off when I have achieved things on it (or colouring them in - depending on my boards design for that year). You can be as creative as you like with them but the trick it to make sure they are visible. That way the things that we would like to achieve will stay at the front of our minds (because we can see them) and we make more of a conscious effort to achieve them. This can be true of any goals however big or small.

Plus it’s fun to explore your creative side if you don’t do it very often.

Before this I was a typical - set the big new years resolutions to start on 1st January (the usual - lose weight, get fitter - learn new language - blah blah blah) and by the second week in January I had usually given up and slipped right back in to old habits again.

I realised that it was because I tried to change too much in one go. Anyone that knows me, knows I tend to be a ‘go big or go home’ kind of person when it comes to making change. However this has not always served me well and at times has been extremely overwhelming.

I started to learn - and this is one of the things I carry in to my coaching is that choosing one small change that feels achievable today, and doing it consistently until it becomes habit, can be just as powerful, if not more so, than the big stuff.

The key to working towards any goal, whether it’s a personal health, businesses related, is consistency. Showing up regularly whether we want to or not, to turn it in to something that becomes habit.

It is easy? Not always and research is now showing us that it can take a lot longer than the previously discussed 21 days to create a new habit. This is because we have so many more distractions and instant demands on our time than we ever have before.

So what is one small change that you could make today that you can commit to doing regularly for a period of 60 days.

Then in 60 days, if you want to, add another small change.

You’ll be surprised how making one or two small changes can give you some BIG results.

Keith Mason - retired rugby player and actor shared some of his thoughts about some swaps you can make to create some good habits.

So let me know - put it out there in the comments and tell us what is one small change you will make today and why?

All the very best

Suzanne

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