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NEW YEAR NEW YOU!

 

Christmas is over and with it the parties, excitement and change of routine.  Once again we find ourselves back on the treadmill of our normal, every day lives.  Each January, most people greet the onslaught of a new year, and the resolutions that go with it, with a mixture of dread and anticipation.  On the one hand they want to make this year special, exciting and positively life changing - they have visions of emerging like the swan in the ugly duckling story.  On the other, they know how many times they’ve tried and failed in the past to improve.  I’m sure you know what I mean: the money wasted on joining a gym and giving up after a few weeks; the weight reducing diet that suddenly involves stuffing copious amounts of chocolate, crisps and alcohol down the throat; the savings plan that gets lost in the thrills of shopping for the latest ‘must have’.

My advice? Do it differently.  Decide to make 2010 highly pleasurable, that way you might actually achieve something really beneficial and enjoy yourself at the same time.

Here are my 2010 New Year Resolutions.  Feel free to adapt them for yourself:

1. Pamper Yourself:  Schedule at least 1 luxuriating treatment such as a massage, a fab new haircut/colour or book a weekend away every month to wallow and indulge yourself. If you are male, then this could mean a weekly round of golf or a test drive in a new car. The only rule is that you must thoroughly enjoy it and you do not cancel for any thing however important it seems.
2. Have a foodie treat once a week.  For me this will be a HUGE bar of dark chocolate or a cosmopolitan cocktail.  Savour and enjoy each mouthful and make sure you share it with no-one.
3. Do something you love every day.  Walk the dog, chat to friends, read a book, watch your favourite TV show.  Find a hobby that really appeals to you.  Don’t go to the gym if you hate it, do something else instead.  You’ll have far more success if you look forward to it.  The list is endless, the possibilities infinite. You might even find a talent as yet unearthed.
4. Surround yourself with people you like.  You adopt the habits of the 5 people you spend most of your time with so if these aren’t working for you, change them.  Enjoy real laughter and companionship.  Move away from the whinging and moaning of negative people.
5. Smile – a lot.  If you smile at people, they’ll smile back. The world has just become a happier place and it costs you nothing.
6. Have a lie in.  We all work far too many hours.  Slip under the duvet at the weekends and shut out the world.
7. Only buy clothes that make you feel really special.  Forget the ‘ok’s’ and ‘it will have to do’s’.  Like the advert says, “you’re worth it”, so only buy clothes you love, that love you in return or you’ll end up with an overfilled wardrobe but still have nothing to wear.
8.  Help save the planet, and your savings, by collecting vintage or second hand clothes from eBay or dress agencies.  If you can find a good tailor, you might even be able to create a completely unique outfit by changing something as simple as the buttons or the hemline.  Did you know that 80% of men’s clothing is bought by their partners?  So, if you’re a man, here is your chance to start stamping your own style preferences on your wardrobe.  Not sure?  Then ask a professional.
9. Have passion – for your partner, children, friends, family and so on.  If you don’t have passion for something, then do something else.
10. Take a risk.  We all stay in a rut because we’re scared to have a go.  Make this your year of ‘feeling the fear and doing it anyway’.  What have you got to lose if you’re already miserable?  Be curious and observant and detach yourself from the outcome.   You’ll learn lots about yourself.

 

Here’s to a positive and transformational year!  Sue

 

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