What’s So Special About the New Year?

It’s a Friday. Fridays are pretty fun even when they aren’t January 1, but there are 52 Fridays in a year. What’s different about this one? 

Why is it filled with hope and unbridled optimism and the promise of #bigthingstocome?

It’s a Friday. 

It’s different though. It’s not like any other Friday. It’s the first day of a new year! It’s different and it’s special just for that. 

It’s the first day called 2016, it’s a clean slate, a blanket of fresh snow. And sometimes that in itself is the last little bit of motivation we need to start a new habit. 

 

What are your New Year’s Resolutions?

Take a minute and think of them right now. 

I’m going to guess:

• lose weight
• exercise more
• be a better husband or wife
• spend more quality time with your kids
• enjoy life more fully
• save more money and pay down debt
• get organized

Are those new thoughts? Did those goals just come to you this morning? No! Absolutely not! They are things you’ve wanted many times before. How many times have you looked at that piece of cake at the office party and thought, “I shouldn’t eat this.” 

How many times have you tucked your kids in bed only to realize that the day was another exhausting blur of carpools, practices, and homework. You’ve wished you had put away your phone, your kids’ homework, and spent more quality time with them. 

You’ve wished you actually committed to that workout. You wish you actually used your gym key tag.

Why didn’t you do that already? Well, many reasons, and they are all okay. You are human. You are busy, you are obligated to people and tasks, but you have the best of intentions. 

 

Forgiveness

Consider the act of forgiveness. It is an immensely kind act to do for yourself, when you can acknowledge and release others’ transgressions. It doesn’t require any specific formality or documentation. No attorneys, witnesses or notaries. It is simply an shift in your mindset. 

The new year presents us a similar opportunity. It gives us an occasion to put away the old guilt and failures, the missed workouts, the regrets for time lost. It gives us an occasion to start anew, making healthier, kinder choices that will truly fulfill us. 

So take this opportunity to make resolutions. Everybody else is! Gyms are bustling. Vegetables are flying off the grocery shelves. You are practically globally supported! Make your resolutions fun, do-able, and specifically beneficial to you. Sounds silly, but doesn’t “lose 11 pounds of fat” sounds better than “lose weight”? “Go to the gym 3 times a week” will guide you better than “exercise more”. 

The key to resolutions is to harness the energy of the new year, but remember that these goals are set up to become new lifelong habits which aren’t attached to any particular calendar date.

Here are some suggestions for resolutions in case you haven’t come up with any. Don’t pick all of these, but choose and adapt 1 or 2 if they will help you.

• Drink 64 ounce of water every day.
• Prepare a healthy breakfast every day.
• Go for an exercise walk or jog 3 times a week.
• Write in a gratitude journal 3 times a week.
• Set your alarm, then put your phone on Do Not Disturb by 7:00 pm every night. (This is my favorite! Love you all, but I need my beauty sleep!)

 

Here’s to a Brilliant 2016!

One more thing: email me and tell me your resolutions! Let me know how they progress. I want to know if you have success with them, if you modify them, if you can positively influence your family and friends through them. 

kathryn@kathrynalexander.com

Let me know!

Bring it, 2016.