2017 left a lot of people reeling and rethinking their lives, making 2018 the best time to retrain your brain to be the best version of you and to start fresh.
People were angry, sad, and frustrated they couldn’t do more to turn situations around from the unrest in the US government to social inequalities coming to light. As a whole, we worked hard to change– to make the world brighter place, yet somehow it didn’t seem to do much.
Change is hard and too few know how to do it so that it sticks. Here are a few ways to change your life in 2018 and make this year YOUR YEAR! You might even change the world while you’re at it.
1.) Self Care– As a therapist the most homework I give clients revolves around self care. Self care usually makes my clients feel overwhelmed with possibilities, usually with ideas that are expensive or time consuming, but that’s not the point. Anything can be self care if it’s something positive and rewarding. You can find something to do in 5 minutes that takes your mind off your troubles like a bubble bath, reading, exercise, etc. Something fun will not only help you take care of yourself, but give you a new outlook on the other side.
2.) Health– This idea shows up on all the self help blogs, but it gets confusing. Healthy doesn’t mean living up to some ideal that isn’t real, unachievable, and difficult to maintain. Healthy means being of positive mind, body, and soul–– all three working together to create harmony. It’s an ongoing process to be healthy and it’s a lifestyle change, not a quick fix.
3.) Looking for the Positive– Retaining your brain to see the world in a new way takes time, but it’s possible; hard, but doable. We can drown with all the negative stories in the media, but if we can spot the themes that trigger us and take us to a dark place, we don’t need to get stuck in the details. We can give ourselves time to process and then move on. For me the news was a dark place and I would get caught up in all the drama. Now, I give myself 30 minutes a day to look over the news and that’s it. It works for me and keeps me in a more positive place.
4.) Find your Passion– Find something that makes your heart sing. Take a hobby you love and grow into it. Take classes, sell your work, find groups of people who like what you like–– make your hobby your priority because it plays into self care. Heck, if you’re lucky, maybe it becomes your life work!
5.) Make Peace with the Past– We all have something in our lives that shaped who we are today. Take time to process the experience. Whether it be with a professional or your closest confidant, learn about your feelings and grow from what you learned.
Creating change takes time. It’s not going to happen over night and it definitely can take an entire year to see results. Give yourself grace and keep up the good work. You’ve worked this hard, why stop now?
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