Evolve with the New Year

There is a lot of marketing everywhere this time of year about resolutions and fresh starts.  Whatever marketing we saw about indulging because it was holiday time is now as tired as a box of stale cookies.  Now it's "new year/new you."  Time to eat clean.  Time to work out.  Time to get mindful.  Time to buy workout clothes and a smoothie blender.  Time to flip a switch with the calendar.

We are human beings not robots, and I don't believe we can automatically reboot the system just because a page on the calendar has changed.  When it comes to weight loss, many of us have learned the hard way that the "all or nothing" approach is doomed.  When it comes to self improvement on other fronts, the same thing applies.  It takes consistent effort to stay focused on our goals.  Even so, there are unforeseen obstacles that may come in our path.  With a healthy "growth mindset" we can handle things like that.  We can take those setbacks in stride and keep moving in the direction we'd like to go. 

So, instead of thinking of resolutions, let's consider evolutions.  How would you like to evolve this year?  Is what you have at this point in time enough?  Or, like most of us, are there areas for improvement?  Are there things in your life that you'd like to pay more attention to?  Are there dreams you have for yourself that you are sitting on?  Now might be the right time to start working towards them. 

Your life is not taking too long.  In the same vein, your self improvement is not taking too long either.  It takes as long as it takes, and even then, we continue to evolve.  We might realize we want more than we ever thought possible.  Wouldn't that be a nice surprise?  We might realize we still want what we always did, and we need to get more focused, more driven, more accountable about it and stop procrastinating.

This time next year, we will be coming off holiday sweets and treats and socializing and facing the same messages.  Time will travel whether you go forward or stay stuck.  Don't let a fixed mindset keep you from living the life you want.  It doesn't matter how many times you have tried and missed the mark, the difference this year can be your mindset telling you that you choose to keep going no matter what.  Because--you are worth it.  Your life is worth it.  You are a work in progress, an evolution not a resolution.