Resistance is futile!

 

Coming into the New Year, there’s a lot of talk about resolutions. Getting back in shape, losing weight, getting organized, no more procrastinating…and the list goes on.
There’s a great deal of pressure and tension and anxiety about creating this massive change at the start of a new year. And to me it gets overwhelming when I think of all the things I HAVE to do and all the changes I MUST make. I have to do it NOW and it has to be BIG!

So I’ve been thinking to myself, what can I do? There are some things I want to change and improve but in the past, when I thought about taking it all on, I would get overwhelmed by the enormity of it all and freeze up into non-action. So I created a plan this year and I’d like you to join me if you’re up for it. My plan is simply to resist one temptation, every day. It might be different every time. One day it might be to resist that dessert, the next to resist turning the TV on when I could go work out instead; the next day I will resist the temptation to check my Facebook. I know this technique might not be for everyone. I think it works best for those of us who get overwhelmed by having to do or change so much that we end up taking no action at all. 

One thing I know I’m going to resist tomorrow is checking my email the first thing in the morning. It seems the moment I open my email, whatever great plans I had for that day are put on the back burner…and they stay in the back all day. So tomorrow (and hopefully for many tomorrows after that) I won’t check my email until 11:00 a.m., for 1 hr max, and then I won’t check it again until 4:00pm. 

I think the key is to resist just one thing and then count that resistance as a success. In the past, I’ve tended to get down on myself because I didn’t do enough; this is where I get trapped into giving up, and end up quitting whatever it was I resolved to do. From now on, when the next temptation comes along and I resist it, I’ll see it as a success. If I don’t resist it, I won’t see myself as a failure; I’ll just recall the success I had already, forgive myself, and move on.

I feel better about making resolutions already.