With the New Year upon us, we tend to get ourselves caught up in the “New Year, New Me” aspect and begin to come up with a list of resolutions. We all know 9 times out of 10, these resolutions are never kept. The concept on resolutions goes something like this; I am going to go to the gym, (Gets a gym membership, goes for a week straight, -gets lazy and never goes again.) I am going to go on a diet, (No carbs for three days, craves chocolate cake- eats entire cake because I’ve been good for three days.) I am going to start being nicer to people. (Gets into the car drives down the road, cuts an old man off- proceeds to flip him off and tells him to go f*ck himself.)
I mean you could always just start these resolutions over the next day, or the day after that, or the following day after that right? Instead of focusing so much on having these big elaborate resolutions, we should be focusing more on implementing self-care practices which may benefit our mind, body and soul. We all want a “New Year, New Me”, and the best way of achieving that is taking care of your whole set- to become the best person you can be. In the New Year, self-care practices are a resolution all on their own.
1. Practice Self-Respect.
This tends to be looked at as something which is common sense and does not need to be practiced, but unfortunately that is not that case. We all have the one person, or few people in our life, we know walk all over us, and we allow it because we love them. Sometimes love needs to be put aside and we need to realize we deserve equal respect from everyone. There comes a point when you have to stand up for yourself and understand that you should be receiving the same respect you provide others with- and with that change you will notice a more positive mind set, with less oppression bringing you down.
- Practice Self-Control.
Self control plays a key role in your decision making. When you are at the bar with friends and know you are one more tequila shot away from spending the night puking your brains out, but you take the shot anyway; you are lacking in self control. When you are trying to break your smoking habit, but you go out and buy yet another pack of cigarettes- you are again, lacking in self control. With the practice of more self-control, you will begin to notice your bad habits diminishing in the New Year. You will start making smarter choices for yourself.
- Practice Self-Kindness.
Everyday we instill how important it is to be kind to others, and the good which may come from random acts of kindness. However, we don’t realize how important it is to also be kind to ourselves. It is essential to be kind to your body; sometimes you need to take a step back and realize what toxins you are constantly putting in there. (Say “Goodbye” to late night fast food runs in 2016, they are not kind to your body.) It is also vital to be kind to your mind. We all make mistakes. We have our bad days. Although the same way you should never put anyone else down, you should not be putting yourself down either.
- Practice Self-Love.
In order for anyone else to love you, you need to know how to love yourself. The concept of self-love is repeating to us over and over again, yet we still seem to all struggle with it. When you learn to love the person you are, everything else falls into place. When you love who you are, you won’t waste time before the New Year, trying to create a “New Me.” Instead you will be loving the you who you are right now- doing great things!
