I don’t know about you, but for the past week my social media feed has been a flurry of invitations and declarations.
Invitations to join various “new year, new me” challenges, and declarations from friends embarking on such challenges, hoping their networks will keep them accountable.
And I’m all for it. I’ve always loved a reinvention project and I love hearing people’s transformation stories.
By implementing a few – often simple – changes, we can improve our health, our finances, even our relationships.
But such challenges don’t have to start on January 1st.
Make a resolution at any time
Last November I decided to make several small lifestyle changes to improve my health.
Having gotten married in early October, I’d been celebrating with good food, good wine, and late nights for three months solid. I have zero regrets – hey, it was fun! – but it was time to rein myself in a bit.
I called it my Just Say NO-vember Challenge, and set seven micro goals to aim for each day:
- No alcohol
- No sweets
- No fast food
- No phone in the bedroom
- 10,000 steps
- Gym visit or Pilates session
- In bed by 10pm
To track my progress, I printed a November calendar and awarded myself a colour-coded star for each goal I achieved each day. (Guided by the Pareto principle, if I got five or six stars out of seven, I figured I was doing okay. I’m only human and life happens!)
(Click here to download the editable calendar if you want to do your own monthly challenge!)
The power of ZZZs
Unsurprisingly, these small but consistent changes made a vast improvement to my health. What surprised me was that the most transformative change was the result of going to bed early.
I’m a little embarrassed at my age to admit that I’ve only recently discovered the value of a sensible bedtime.
It makes sense – it’s a basic physiological need, on the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy. But like many people, for me it was the first thing to be sacrificed. If I’d had a hard day, I felt I’d earned a bit of relaxation time on the couch; another episode of a Netflix binge.
But that ended in November, and it’s been a game changer!
For the first time in my life, mornings no longer hurt. In fact (dare I say it?!) I’ve actually become a “Morning Person”. I now wake easily at 5.30-6am, roused by my clock radio alarm (because I no longer use my phone – see goal 4 above).
On weekends and during holidays when I don’t set the alarm, I still wake up early, feeling refreshed and ready for the day.
I’ve come to love and look forward to the peaceful quiet of the dawn. I love making my first coffee and journaling or reading before planning my day.
With adequate sleep I have more energy, am more productive and feel ready to achieve whatever goals I set throughout 2023.
So this January, instead of setting a New Year’s resolution, I’m going to continue the habit I started back in November.
Photo by Kinga Cichewicz on Unsplash
Try it!
Go to bed.
