New Year's Resolutions: Setting Healthy Goals
As we celebrate the year coming to an end, we look forward to starting the New Year. This is an exciting time and most want to go into the New Year on a positive note. However, this brings a lot of baggage with it as ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ can put pressure on individuals, this pressure can come from within, from others or society.
This being said New Year’s Resolutions can be a good thing if they are set with the right intentions. Anxiety can be a debilitating disorder and leave someone with only negative thoughts, so we must be careful to be kind to ourselves when planning our resolutions. This means that it is important to set goals that are achievable. Setting a strict unrealistic goal may feed into anxiety when it is inevitably not reached. However, having a good intention to stick to a more manageable resolution is more likely to be accomplished and, therefore, can help improve one’s self-esteem. For example, telling yourself that you are not ever allowed to eat chocolate again will only set yourself up for failure, and the self-deprecating emotions that come with that. However, allowing yourself to only have one snack a day will be more achievable as it is not a sudden change and still allows you to treat yourself.
After you have decided on the correct resolutions for you and your family it is time to act. You will not achieve your resolutions in one day! It can take anywhere from 18 days to 254 days to form a habit, this will differ from person to person and depend on the type of resolution you have set for yourself. Choosing manageable resolutions and breaking them down into smaller goals that you can achieve gradually will help you stick to them. Planning how to achieve your goals can lessen anxiety surrounding resolutions. You can also reflect on this to monitor your progress to see how far you have come. Altogether, this will reduce anxious feelings of inability or unworthiness and increase confidence in yourself. Small wins build up to big rewards!
If you have a dream of what you want your family life to look like and what you want to change to achieve this, the whole family must be included in the discussion. Turning a new leaf as a family is a commendable desire and can be reached. First, you must outline your resolution and break it down into smaller steps. Think - what does each member of the family have to do to make this change? Discuss with your partner and children to see how they feel about this, and if they have any ideas or resolutions that can be included in this plan. Breaking your goals down into sub-goals will make your plan more attainable. Furthermore, everyone will know what is needed of them in advance, this is incredibly important for children with anxiety as they often need to feel a sense of control. Springing a change on them can be very overwhelming for an anxious child.
New Year’s Resolutions can result in a harsh focus being set on reaching the outcome, therefore, ignoring the progress that has been made. It is important to keep in mind how far you have come towards reaching your goal, compared to the start of the year, even if the resolution has not been completed. As said before, break down your resolutions, and once you achieve each step make sure that you acknowledge it! This can be a clear way to see your progress. Give praise to a child for their achievement and check in with how they are feeling. Positive emotions can be rare when you suffer from anxiety so make sure to highlight them fully. Celebrate your progress, no matter how small, and have fun with it!
