Carrie on Radio London: New Year Resolutions

On the 1st Jan 2017 at 7.20am I was live on BBC Radio London talking about New Year’s resolutions and positive thinking. Bearing in mind that only a few hours previously, I had been struggling to find my way home through the all the streams of people that lined the London streets after the New Year firework display, along the River Thames. By the time I had negotiated the all the closed tube stations and various multiple diversions, I finally got home at 3am…

I set my alarm for 6am wanting to give myself plenty of time to come round and be awake enough to make sense in my interview. I have to admit that although I had literally only slept a couple of hours, when I had to step up and deliver, I did, and enjoyed it thoroughly!

During my interview, I talked about thinking outside the box when it came to deciding on your New Year’s resolution, not to wheel out the same old one you’ve tried year after year and not yet been successful with. Either think of something new or rethink the old one.

Essentially, in order to have a resolution work, it needs to come from a place of inspiration not obligation. It needs to be something that is achievable and is the thought of that achievement excites you, makes you feel good about your self.

If the resolution is approached from an idea of denying yourself, it is going to be that much more challenging to achieve. So switch the thinking from what you believe you’re denying yourself to something that you’re awarding yourself instead. For example if you wish to lose weight, flip your thinking from the idea that you’re denying yourself food, to the thought of how you’re going to feel when you’re the proud owner of a fit and healthy body. It is a simple mind shift that is going to encourage you to feel good about the changes you’re making, instead of making yourself feel miserable.

In it’s essence a New Year’s resolution is a commitment that you’re making to yourself , a commitment that will improve your quality of life and make you feel back in control of things. I would recommend using this mindset of wanting to make changes for the better in your life, as something that you think about all year round. Why wait until next year to start changing things for the better. Once you have started one New year’s resolutions and got in the flow of it, use this momentum to tackle other areas of your life.

Why wait?