Happy New year everyone! The New Year brings resolutions – good intentions to change our lives for the better. Like so many resolutions, they usually don’t make it past January, and some linger through mid-March before old habits and behaviors triumph over them.

This doesn’t mean we should give up on our resolutions, but instead it should fortify our resolve to keep taking action to fulfill those resolutions. Who cares if by mid-March old habits win the day? There is tomorrow to start fresh again – keep trying. If you give in to that chocolate chip cookie and think you “blew your diet”, don’t give up. The very next time you are faced with the temptation, stop and remind yourself why you made that resolution and what goal you want to accomplish. Don’t wait until next week, next month or next year to begin again.

 A quick word on habits – the decision to begin a behavior is a conscious one. The actions to maintain that behavior are conscious ones.  The repetition of those actions over time become subconscious and automatic in nature, and this automatic nature constitutes a habit.  If we are to break this subconscious, automatic action then we must REPLACE the thought of the old decision with a new one.  Once the decision is made, then implementing a new habit follows the same steps as before. It is all mental. Forcing ourselves through “empty” actions – those that we really don’t believe in to change a behavior will probably work in the short-term, but not the long term. We must have a belief in the outcome in order to succeed.

On that note, I’m going to end this week’s blog by encouraging you to believe in your resolutions, your goals, and your abilities to accomplish them. You have it within yourself to be persistent, consistent, focused and to execute your plan to a better health.  You are worth it.

Until next time, stay healthy.    

Dion