New years Resolutions have you met your or have you relapsed?

We are living in dangerous times but at the beginning of the year, we were looking forward to a new and bright future. Many of us made new years resolutions to help us plan for a better year or a better us. With all of the uncertainty around us maybe it is time to try to focus and get back to some semblance of normalcy. Time to look at your new year's resolutions.

The fact is that almost everyone who started off 2020 with strong goals has by now given up. The fact is that we all relapse and can fall back into old habits. Here are some ideas on how to get back on track

Remember we all relapse, but it is not done all at once, it could be the result of a drawn-out process. For me it happened when I travelled to Australia over Xmas, I slowed down by reducing my daily exercise routine to once every two days, then three days, then once a week. I fell out of exercise slowly and then stopped. No excuses. There are many reasons why you may slow down on trying to achieve whatever goals you have. These could be the Coronavirus, or other Illnesses, vacation, holidays, changes at work or any other change in your schedule are all things that’ll get you off the wagon. 

There comes a point after you stop working toward your goals that you simply throw your hands up in the air and give in. It may be a dramatic moment or it could be a decision that the goal is not worth pursuing and over time you convince yourself that you cannot achieve it anyway.

Surrender is the most destructive part of the cycle. You remove all expectations from yourself and as a result, you plummet into an unhealthy stream of thought. The progress that you’ve made toward your goals is lost and you lose faith in yourself.

Inevitably there comes the moment when you hit bottom. This is a sobering moment when you see what you’ve allowed yourself to become, and you don’t like it one bit. Negative, defeated thoughts run through your mind. While hitting the bottom is never a fun experience, it is a necessary one. The pain of your failure must become great enough for you to turn it around and take the control back.

Now comes the good part. When you hit bottom you were out of control, now you’re ready to once again grab the reigns. You’re ready to put yourself back onto your priority list. Now is the time to set specific goals for yourself that are realistic and within a set timeframe. Now get to work, reclaim your self-esteem, your freedom and your life.

Remember, life will always give you an excuse to stop working towards your goals – it’s up to you to fight back for what you truly want.