New Year, New Mindset, New Life
5 Secrets to a Life of Unstoppable momentum and Resilience
Did any of us set ‘live through a Global Pandemic without losing it completely’ as a resolution for 2020? And yet, here we are living through a historic moment, still here to tell a tale.
Life is hard! When plans fall away, our dreams remain unfulfilled, unexpected and undesirable things befall us, we are left feeling despondent and discouraged.
I have no idea what personal challenges you have lived through this year. Financial hardship, changes to your life style, loss of routine, companionship, compromised health, broken-down relationships, loneliness, bereavement or simply a year filled with fear and anxiety. Whatever your circumstances, if you have found yourself seeking comfort in food and other escapist activities more than usual, you are not alone! You had to do, what you had to do, to get through 2020.
As 2021 rolls in, with more pandemic restrictions looming ahead and the virus apparently more virulent than initially thought, we may wonder what will the New Year bring for us?
A Resilient Mindset for 2021
Typically, New Year is a time for great optimism, a time of rebirth, a time to wipe the slate clean and start over, time of resolutions and of hope of a better life. This year is different. Perhaps, you are feeling disillusioned with all ‘let’s be positive for the New Year’ vibes and sceptical of the flash in the pan New Year resolutions.
Here is another way! Enough with the resolutions, how about harnessing the power of our mind?
Inspired by my meditation teacher, a personal motto, I have come to live by is ‘control the things you can and learn to make peace with what you can’t’. This age old wisdom has served me particularly well during this strange times we are living through. Ultimately, the only thing we can control is your thoughts and feelings; your mindset and habits. Everything else, is well, frankly mostly out of our control.
Inspired by this motto, here are Five mindset shifts, that will help propel your life into a positive momentum for 2021, regardless of what external circumstances you find yourself in :
1) Take time to deeply reflect and integrate what you have accomplished in 2020, in to your sense of self.
The ‘not good enough’ mindset can be sneaky and all pervasive, where we are perpetually focused on how we are falling short, failing or simply not doing enough. We fail to notice the moments in our life, of peace, happiness, of growth, time connecting and caring for yourself and others, completing projects, work and personal accomplishments and so on.
Take a moment now and make a list of all the good things that you have accomplished in 2020, however small they may seem. Even the fact you are taking the time to read this blog post tells me that you are humble and open to new ways of being. Pause, reflect and integrate all your small successes in to your sense of being until you feel good within yourself.
At the most fundamental level, you are alive! You have survived and coped, perhaps not perfectly but in the best way you know possible through an unusual year of hardship and fear. That is something to celebrate.
Success is built upon success. No better way to approach 2021, with a mindset of growth, confidence and resilience.
2) Learn to see beyond your current limitations and circumstances
We stay stuck, limited and frustrated when we can’t see beyond our current habits, tendencies and circumstances. As the saying goes, ‘Without a vision, people perish’.
You need to actively cultivate an emotionally compelling future vision for yourself beyond your current circumstances. If you can’t see a future that transcends your current limitations, you will never get there. Whatever we accomplish, we bring it into existence with the power of our imagination.
If you are struggling with binge and emotional eating, imagine a future where you have broken-free from the binge-diet cycle and you have a peaceful relationship with food. Imagine a future where you have new ways of coping with difficult emotions and no longer use food as a source of emotional comfort. Imagine a future where weight loss occurs as a side effect of you becoming happier within yourself.
Never underestimate the power of your mind, in particular your visionary mind. The more clear you become about your desired future self and outcome, the more confidence and clarity you will have in knowing what concrete actions you need to take to make this vision a reality. Your mind is the most powerful thing at your disposal. Use it wisely and intentionally.
3) Make a drop list – the things you need stop doing.
To make room for the new you, for the new life, you need to let go of old habits, attitudes and beliefs that are holding you back. Usually, these habits and attitudes sap your energy and time, wasting your life, destroying your health and your sense of well-being. On my list of things to let go of is my tendency towards distractions, especially in my use of social media. I have decided to use social media intentionally. A top priority for my coaching clients, is their daily plan of letting go of mindless eating by proactively training in mindful eating.
What are the 2/3 things you need to let go of from 2020, that will make your ‘drop list’?
4) What life lessons from 2020 you want to take into 2021?
There are no such thing as failures, except the failure of NOT learning from your failures. Your so called ‘failures’, often painful life events, if harnessed with wisdom can be extraordinary learning opportunities. What has 2020 taught you about life? I have learnt that life is fragile and I need to appreciate the people close to me without taking them for granted. This is a very humbling and powerful lesson 2020 has taught me. What’s yours?
5) Who do you want to be in 2021?
As a society, we are so focused on doing, and we value external accomplishments like wealth, status, power, good looks and popularity over and above internal accomplishments. We often fail to reflect on and put energy into who we actually want to become. Do you have goals that helps you move towards how you want to feel inside? There are many miserable wealthy, thin, attractive and popular people in the world. If you haven’t met them personally, check out Hello! magazine.
Looking after our physical health is incredibly important, but so is caring for and nourishing our emotional and mental health. Our thoughts, and attitudes also need cultivating. Authentic happiness comes from a peaceful mind. You can learn to train your mind and experience peace from within. At the heart of healing from emotional and binge eating is learning to make peace with and let go of painful emotions, whilst learning practices that allows you to find peace, joy and fulfilment from within.
My question to you is, who do you want to become? Pause and take a moment to think about the internal qualities that you would like to develop or strengthen in 2021? Is it peace, self-kindness, joy, a lightness of being or inner strength?
As you work through these 5 mindsets shifts, you will go into 2021 with a resilience and a confidence that will see you through whatever comes your way! 2021, will be whatever you make it into! Remember you are more powerful than you think! The key to a life of freedom, of meaning and peace starts with your mindset!
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