Tricks to giving up bad habits and achieving your goals

Many people make New Year’s Eve Resolutions / goals / intentions but have a difficult time following through with them & the old “Bad Habits” or routines take over. The gyms are crowded the first couple of weeks; by February, most of the “newbees” have disappeared. Here are a few tips that might help you follow through with those resolutions/goals/ intentions that you set. Let’s make it the best year ever!!

Starting the Day:

• Be aware of your underlying beliefs and values: what are the belief systems and values that you learned growing up from family/friends/teachers/etc. The world has unlimited possibilities and you are in charge. Uncover your underlying limiting beliefs; your underlying value systems; your underlying drives; etc so you can make sure they are all working for you and not against you. Learn to believe in yourself. Attract people around you who also believe in you and support you in achieving your goals and/or eliminating bad habits.

• Stop negative thinking / engage in positive thinking: people often learn from childhood/ parents/ partners/etc that they are not good enough; or they are failures; or they don’t deserve; or they are not lovable; etc. Make sure that if you have any of these negative themes, or other possibilities, that you become aware of them and learn to take current data to change the underlying negatives into positives. Positive belief in yourself and in your ability to achieve your resolutions / goals / intentions goes a long ways to achieving them. • Recommit to your new intention / goal / resolution daily. Write it down; meditate on it; talk about it with a friend; ask someone who is supportive of you to help hold you accountable daily; embrace living with conscious intent by thinking about your new choice daily. •Start each day by visualizing what a perfect day would like – this involves your thoughts, emotions, attitudes and behaviors. See yourself moving through the day with grace and gratitude as you achieve your intentions / goals / resolutions.

• Remember to focus on accomplishing one step at a time. When we look at the Mount Everest component of what we want to achieve, we are likely to get overwhelmed and walk away. If however, we choose to look at one step at a time that is achievable, we are more likely to stay engaged and achieve their goals / intentions.

• Be aware of any emotions that work for you or against you concerning the issues along with other aspects of life. Work at creating the emotions that work for you as you set yourself up positively to achieve your New Year’s Eve resolutions.

Throughout the day:

• Along with thoughts and emotions, we have attitudes. If you approach something, especially changing a habit, with a negative attitude then we are more likely to fall off the band wagon. If we approach the same situation with determination and excitement, we are more likely to stay on the band wagon and actually achieve those goals / resolutions / intentions. • Along with thoughts, emotions and attitudes, we have behaviors: act the part. Chose to be the person you want to be with conscious intent. It is both reinforcing and helps the brain to create the conscious connection and over time the connection with the old habits will fall away. The brain/body focuses on: loose it if you don’t use it!

• This seagways into falling off the band wagon: we are bound to fall off the band wagon…to which we have choices…we can either choose to beat ourselves up over it or laugh about it and get back on the band wagon. We are not perfect beings…we are not meant to be perfect beings…so be patient and kind with yourself and simply get back on the band wagon and re-focus on what you are in process of achieving.

• Surround yourself with people who are positive & supportive but are willing to hold you accountable. Whatever we are attempting in life, whether it is health and well being; starting a business; getting married; etc if we are surrounded by people who love us; believe in us; and have good intentions about us – we are much more successful.

• Create your affirmations about life and about your specific goal. You want to capture a sense of well being and achievement. Throughout the day repeat your affirmation to bring you back onto the band wagon and create a positive sense within you.

• Speak positively to yourself; to others; and about your new goals.

• Along with speaking positively, we also need to be attentive to the words we chose to use. For example, eliminate phrases like “I’ll try” and replace with phrases like: “I am in process”; “I am learning”; “I am achieving”; “I am working with” etc.

At the end of the day:

• Sit quietly at the end of the day and review what you achieved and what you need to put further focus into. What do you need to do differently or with more conscious intent or what you need to repeat.

• Be attentive to what you might be procrastinating and how you will work with it the next day.

• When it comes to issues you might have a tendency to procrastinate on; look at why you procrastinate – what is the emotion, attitude, belief, etc that surrounds the issue. Then look at what is the feeling that you have when you get the job accomplished and get out of the way…a good affirmation that might help is “Get your chores out of the way, so I can go out and play.”

• Reflect on what you need to do to find a healthy balance in your life to support your new goals and eliminate old habits that are no longer useful. • Utilize exercise of some sort to keep all the body fluids moving. The body is designed to move and if we stretch, walk, do yoga, etc to keep the fluids moving to bring nutrients throughout the body and help the body eliminate toxins, we are more likely to think, feel, and behave positively. • Acknowledge your achievements and be thankful for the day you had to experience life; then take gratitude for the next day to further develop your potential.

• Have fun.

Here’s to your health!

For more information, contact: holly@choicesunlimited.ca

Dr. Holly is a naturopathic doctor that holds a PHD in Psychology and Biochemistry, specializing in balancing mind, body and energy of the system.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information only and is not a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or other health care practitioner.