Photo by Brenton Clarke

Why Wait?

Let’s be real. We know what we need to work on. It isn’t a mystery. For whatever reason, we have a ritual of waiting until January 1 to start taking action on those “need for improvement” life areas.

Perhaps it’s the overachiever in me, scratch that, the competitor in me, that always wants a head start or an edge, but I like to get to my resolutions before the “#newyearnewme” hashtags start to appear. I’m of the mindset, why wait? If something in my life sucks, well, let’s stop the suck.

So, when it comes to identifying my resolutions or areas of improvement (aside from those that are glaringly obvious like, get off of social media! (more on that later), here are my Top 2 Calls to Action!

01 | Stop the Madness or Rather Mindlessness
I’m on a mission to be more mindFULL, instead of mindLESS, in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I embrace my Netflix binges (that Gilmore Girls ending, though!), but I don’t like the rabbit holes I was going down when it came to Facebook and Instagram.

There I’d be innocently scrolling and then boom(!) I’d be down that hole and then many mindless minutes later ask myself, “Why the heck am I on this page and why do I care what she’s doing?” Or I’d come to in a more abrupt way with my phone falling on my face as I scrolled in bed. #lowpoint

For example, last year, instead of waiting until January 1 to address this obvious issue, I started a “No Facebook or Instagram December.”

Within 20 days in…I felt pretty darn good. Here’s what I noticed.

I was much more productive and possibly happier. I was being asked out more (not sure the correlation….maybe cause I was looking up more and actually engaging in human relationships instead of my phone relationship).

I felt unstoppable! Just a side effect of breaking an addiction. Truth is, I really was addicted. That became even more obvious once I quit. I still find myself grabbing for my phone during any downtime moments (i.e. waiting for appointments, sitting at a stoplight, lulls in conversation), but then I put it down and just (gasp!) be.

Mindless social media scrolling prompted the madness of comparison. As in I would compare my behind-the-scenes to someone’s highlight reel. And even though I consider myself someone who is aware that people only post the ‘best,” I would still get suckered in and leave the platforms feeling like I was somehow behind in the game of life…or “not (fill in the blank) enough.”

That’s madness.
So I stopped it.

02 |  Lose The Weight
Yup. I know. This is on at least 90% of people’s list. But I have a feeling my weight loss goal is different. (yea, I’m special like that)

See I’m focused on dropping the weight of things that don’t serve me or that weigh me down.

Like, one-sided friendships, business partnerships that aren’t a win-win,
that monthly commitment I’ve been going to but dread going to, and on top of these tangible things, I’m also dropping the heaviest things of all…

Limiting beliefs.

You know, those ideas or thoughts that tell me I’m not good enough, smart enough, worthy enough, pretty enough, fast enough (blah blah blah). These are the heaviest weights of all because they drag down my spirit, my joy, my sense of humor and they hinder my progress.

So I’m dropping them.

Easy to do? Yes…and no.

No, because limiting beliefs are bad habits and we all know bad habits are hard to break. Our brain is used to playing the same thoughts over and over like a broken record. So it’s our job (and responsibility) to counteract each negative thought.

This can be exhausting at first (but so is working out a new muscle). And just like developing a new muscle, over time it gets easier and stronger.

And that’s how I want to go into the new year, stronger in my thought. Cause when we are stronger in our thought—banishing any limiting beliefs or negative thinking, we become stronger in all areas of our life. We start living life from a place of strength and vigor, instead of smallness and weakness.

Are you carrying extra weight?

How will you spend these next few weeks of 2017? Will you carry on doing the things that you know aren’t the best? Will you join the masses and put off starting a new routine or implementing a better habit until January 1?

Might I recommend starting a new tradition?

A tradition that isn’t tied to the calendar. The tradition to never put off taking care of you. Because you living your best life can begin at any moment. Starting now.

FROM THE EDITOR
At Conscious, we are inspired by stories that cause us to think differently and think big-picture, and so we set out to tell stories with the help of leaders and influencers within the social good community. You can read more stories like this when you join as a member.