Here we go again!

The New Year is right around the corner and it’s time to consider resolutions… How will you go about deciding on one? Are you fed up with making resolutions that you don’t keep? Maybe you see the tradition as pointless and you’ve given up on making one all together. You might even see resolutions as a great way to set yourself up to fail, yet again.

I get it! I haven’t made a New Year’s resolution in as long as I can remember. That doesn’t mean, however, that I don’t move into each new year with goals and dreams. I’m going to offer you a couple resolution alternatives I use that will help you put a fresh spin on the yearly tradition right here, right now.

Alternative #1

First, instead of one overwhelming resolution, let’s look at making simple, manageable commitments to yourself that will lead to replacing dis-empowering thought patterns and limiting beliefs with empowering ones. In order to do this, you’ll need to start by identifying the obstacles preventing you from stepping into your power.

Instead of weight loss as a resolution for example, I encourage you to first look at the reasons you want to lose the weight. Is your reasoning based on health and longevity because you love yourself and you want to be active into old age? Or is it because you hate your body, can’t stand to be in pictures, and avoid the mirror at all costs? If your reason is the latter, there are some deeper concerns to address.

The majority of my clients come into the 6-Month Plant-Empowered Coaching Program wanting to lose weight and change the shape of their bodies. What they must accept though, is the process for changing your body starts with your mindset. Loving, accepting, and respecting yourSELF AND your body as it is right now is the prerequisite for changing it.

I’m not talking about a quick fix here. I’m talking about doing the mental and emotional work it takes to get to a place where you make decisions out of pure love for yourself… Only then does will power no longer matter… Only then can you feel confident that you will continue to make the choices that will serve you best for the rest of your life (creating a sustainable lifestyle you love).

Using weight loss as the example, a commitment you may want to make to yourself in 2019 is to look in the mirror and say, “I am perfectly imperfect and I love, accept, and respect myself as I am right now,” every day (or whatever mantra hits home).

Alternative #2

Another commitment may be to start chewing your food thoroughly, to a paste, before swallowing. If that sounds silly to you, just know that it sounded silly to me too when I heard it recommended. I did it anyway though, and it seriously changed my life. I had digestive issues for years, along with anxiety about when I would eat because I always felt bloated after a meal. The issues completely went away with the simple commitment I made to myself to chew my food thoroughly!

If all of this sounds a bit daunting, don’t worry, I have created a thorough Self-Assessment worksheet (adapted from the 6-Month Plant-Empowered Coaching Program Workbook) that you can download for free HERE!  

As nerdy as it sounds, being Type A, I actually love filling out self-assessments. I also love self-exploration, as it is a necessary step toward personal growth. Growth requires us to take the risk of hopping outside our comfort zones, something that happens when we start digging deep and evaluating our mindset and emotional health.

The Self-Assessment evaluates several areas that our Plant-Empowered Coaching Program covers:

• Your eating mindset (relationship with food)
• Your body image (relationship with your body)
• Your emotional health (relationship with yourself and others)
• How you operate (from a place of abundance or scarcity)

Interestingly, all these areas are interconnected. If you have an unhealthy relationship with food, you are likely to have an unhealthy relationship with your body. If you have a poor body image, you’re likely to lack the tools you need for emotional health. If you’re unhealthy emotionally, there’s a good chance you operate from a place of scarcity. Get it?

Once you have the awareness, it’s time to start getting educated about the root causes, and learning the tools necessary to begin the rewiring process. I have created many free resources to help you get started. All the resources will give you suggestions for simple commitments you can make to yourself in the New Year.

Alternative #3

On the other end of the spectrum from making a simple commitment to yourself, is making a seemingly impossible goal. I’m talking about shoot for the stars! The truth is, anything really is possible when you develop self-love and use the Law of Attraction to put out the energy you want to get back. Maybe you want to spend a month in Australia and scuba dive with sharks. Maybe you want to make a million dollars doing what you’re passionate about. Maybe you want to inspire a hundred people to go vegan. I mean really, what’s the worst that can happen… you don’t accomplish the impossible goal? Big freakin’ deal (not)!

If the thought of setting a seemingly impossible goal  brings up anxiety and fears of failure, you can probably guess my response. Identifying the root of that fear, and gaining tools to empower yourself so that you are no longer a victim to your fears, is what needs to happen before moving forward. This takes us full circle back to creating simple, manageable commitments to yourself.

Alternative #4

I want to finish with a commitment to yourself that will help you regardless of which areas you struggle most in. Eliminate one or more dis-empowering phrases from your vocabulary.

Phrases like:

• “I have to” (read all about the power of using, “I choose to” instead HERE)
• “But” (negates everything you said prior)
• “Why me” (puts you in victim mode)
• “I can’t” (takes your power away and leaves no room for figuring out another way)
• “I’ll try” (no, you’ll either do it or you won’t… you get to choose)

There you have it! If you find the perspective I’ve presented here intriguing, I encourage you to learn more about how you can transform your mindset, body, and life with the 6-Month Plant-Empowered Coaching Program. I’d also love to see you join our Empowered Vegan Life Facebook tribe for free support as you start this incredible new chapter in your life.

I’ll end with this… Kick the excuses to the curb right here, right now. You have the power to write a new story for your life in 2019! Let’s do this!!