What Have You Learned From 2011?

New Year’s Eve is already upon us; can you believe it?

What will 2012 hold for you?

I wrote the other day about choosing to begin the Paleo diet at a time when you personally are most likely to be successful at it, rather than making the assumption that just because it’s January 1st, it’s the best time to give it a go.

I believe wholeheartedly in this approach.

At the same time, however, I do think it’s worthwhile to spend at least a little time on reviewing what 2011 brought you and your loved ones, in terms of health and happiness and pro-actively making decisions on what worked well and what didn’t.

Rather than set those same old New Year’s Resolutions that you’ve gone through the motions with year after year, why not choose some new attainable goals that you can actually reach, so that this time next year, you’re feeling satisfied rather than kicking yourself with a bunch of ‘should have, could have, would haves’?

If you tell yourself that you ‘won’t eat X food anymore’ or ‘won’t be sedentary anymore’ or ‘will be ‘good’ and go to the gym four times per week’ but don’t devise a plan about how you’re going to do (or not do) those things, how will this New Year be any different from one in the past?

We humans respond most favorably to what to do, rather than what not to do.  Therefore, if you’re trying to omit a not so great behavior or food choice, a replacement action needs to be in place.

Let’s revisit the list of those go-to resolutions, but this time with a positive spin, heading towards something favorable rather than running away from something not so great.

Replace ‘I won’t mindlessly eat pizza late at night anymore’ with ‘When I find myself about to eat out of boredom, I’ll leash up the dog and we’ll head out for a walk’.

Instead of ‘I won’t be sedentary anymore’, it could be ‘I am finally going to learn how to rock climb’.

Finally, rather than ‘I’ll force myself to go to the gym, which I hate’, how about ‘I’m going to join the local running group I’ve felt shy about trying out for all these years’.

Make a plan and act on it.

Now.

And don’t forget to plan when you’re going to go Paleo, too!

Happy New Year!