Your Best You!
You know those words you mumble every year on January 1st? It goes something like “New Year, New Me”? Yep, that’s the one. Every year you decide that this is going to be your year and that you are going to be fitter than ever, immensely positive, and hard working. And sure, you do mean it when you say it, but somehow along the way throughout the year, you kind of forget about these changes you meant to make.
It is amazing that we get these yearly reminders that the Earth has traveled around the Sun 365 days and it is now time to spice things up in our lives and make some new goals. It is also great that we all actually set these new goals, but our reasons behind these goals may be less great. We live in a world where social media is a part of our daily lives and it’s easy to get caught up in it. We often set goals like getting fit or eating more acai bowls, but our sole reasons are that others are doing it. So, these goals are not necessarily self-motivated and self-serving. We begin feeling like we have to look a certain way, be and do things according to society’s standards. We often look at an Instagram photo and feel like wow this person in the photo seems to have it all together.
Influencers on social media should inspire others, and it isn’t their fault necessarily, but people easily fall into the habit of comparing their lives to theirs – be it looks, diet, paycheck, relationship status, social life, or possessions. However, the best life you can live is the life you are living for yourself! So, why are you spending so much time on Instagram, stressing over that model who is younger than you, yet farther along in her job or relationship?
So for 2018, before writing your New Year’s resolutions list, reassess why you want to lose that weight. Is it because looking skinny in photos will get you more likes? Or are you changing your diet this year to truly become healthier and live your days more energized? It is important to see where your motivations lie and why exactly you are setting these goals for 2018.
Below are some realistic tips for you to go live your own life in 2018 and to focus on a truly happier, healthier you! Don’t forget that your life is on its own time zone and things will happen to you when they are meant to. With these 7 realistic tips, you can make your 2018 spectacular!
Change your attitude – 85% of your life is dictated by your attitude and your attitude all starts with your mindset. So what is your current mindset? Is your mindset positive and optimistic and do you see the good in most situations? Or are you looking at them with a negative mindset and just seeing the bad in situations as opposed to finding the lessons you could learn from these events? Catch yourself when having negative thoughts and change your mindset. It’s all about telling yourself that you are not going to feel sorry for yourself and will try to be aware of your negative thought pattern. Erase the words ‘cannot’ and ‘don’t like’ from your thinking and replace it with thoughts such as ‘I can do this, I do like the challenge”. It’s not about what happens to you, but how you react to it. Your choice of response to external life situations is what determines your future. So, choose to look at your life with a positive outlook!
Focus on why you want to be healthier – Your New Year’s resolutions list probably includes eating healthy and working out more every year. The year starts off great, you even spend time on making super healthy green smoothies and you don’t even mind the bitter taste of kale. Then soon enough, every day becomes a cheat day. In 2018, however, try to reassess why you would want to eat healthier and exercise more. Examine your current diet and workout routine and see where you could be better to feel better. Believe me, once you feel better, you will soon too look better. It is, however, way more realistic to aim for positive health changes rather than for super skinny thighs and toned abs.
Clear your mind – Instead of putting yourself on a strict 7-days-a-week workout plan, try to commit to exercising your mind and soul in 2018 by giving yoga and meditation a try. Health is not only physical but also mental and spiritual. People often neglect mental health because they do not know just how powerful they can feel in their bodies by training their minds. You can start out slow, with a two-minute meditation. There are many amazing meditation apps and guided meditations on YouTube. Meditation is simply redirecting your thoughts to the present moment by focusing on your breath or your bodily sensations. You can implement short meditation minutes during mundane moments of the day such as washing the dishes or walking from the store to your car.
Pamper yourself – I’m not telling you to go and book yourself a eucalyptus and rose-water facial at the most expensive spa, but do give yourself some time to care for your body. You can easily have a spa night at home. You don’t always have to go far to treat yourself to nice things and feel good in your skin. You should simply dedicate some time each week where you give your hard-working body some love. Take a bubble bath (while drinking some wine and reading a book), DIY a facial mask or a hair mask, paint your nails and apply the most deliciously smelling lotion. Light some candles, have your phone off and give yourself the environment and time to relax and rewind. Our bodies are magical and incredibly good to us but over the years, all we supply it with is more and more stress. We need to show some appreciation to our bodies!
Journal – This is something that I have been working on this year myself and that is to write my thoughts down. Find a cute notebook for 2018 that you can keep by your bedside table and just jot down a few things in every morning or evening. You don’t have to be a writer to a journal. It also does not have to be like writing a diary where you talk about how your day went. Journals are for getting your ideas and thoughts on paper. Reflect on what you are happy and grateful for every day. Affirmations do boost your happiness level!
Travel – Set date for when you will explore new places in 2018! Traveling gives your mind a rest from the daily stress: you get to relax and recharge. Your most beautiful memories will come from traveling and exploring new or even old, habitual places. You don’t always have to go far and spend a lot of money! Have you ever been a tourist in your own hometown? Try it out, you’ll find that there’s so much more to see than you thought.
Wear what makes you happy – In 2018, aim to wear clothes that truly make you confident. Not what others are wearing on Instagram, but what you like wearing, whatever makes you feel strong and confident. Be inspired by all the celebs who literally wear whatever they feel is aesthetically beautiful to them. Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, and so many others. Do they look like they care about what others say about their outfit choices? They just love going all out and dressing in fabrics, cuts, and textures that they love.
Surround yourself with positive people – At last but not least, if you want to be happy and healthy in 2018, you need to surround yourself with happy people as well. It’s going to be really difficult to maintain this happy and positive mindset if you’re constantly surrounded by negative people. So get together with friends that make you happy or find some new friends. When toxic friendships end, you have space in your life for new, better relationships.
We all have the same 24 hours as those Instagram models. What you decide to do with it is your choice. You can choose to spend your time watching other people live theirs on social media or you can decide that you will go out and live your own. In the end, it is about choosing what is going to make you feel like a better you, be that doing a 20 meditation session or taking 5 minutes to make your bed in the mornings, whatever it is, it should make you feel less stressed. Less stress=happiness. So this year, try not to force yourself to run an hour every day on the treadmill because we all know, that it may not make you happy at the end of the day, just simply exhausted.
When you feel the stress taking over and you can’t change the situation, then change your attitude. Decide to be excited about that boring work assignment your boss gave you and you will have the assignment done in no time. Decide that you deserve people in your life that love you for who you are and they will come into your life. If all fails, make yourself to smile! It’s been proven that a forced smile tricks your mind into being happy! You will end up genuinely smiling. As a bonus, smiling and laughing burn calories, so go ahead and show off those pearly white teeth!
