Letting Go of 2017 for Success in 2018

How was 2017 for you? Did you hit your weight loss goals, get fit, healthy, and are now living the life you dreamed of at your goal weight… or are you still working on it. If that’s the case, then good on you for persisting! Weight loss is a marathon, not a race.

In saying that, there are certainly some things from the previous year that you can ditch to get even closer to reaching your goals.

Let go of past failures

In fact, let go of the word “failure” altogether! Any time you try something and it doesn’t work out how you wanted it to, chances are you learned something from it. Even if what you learned was what doesn’t work for you.

The danger in dwelling on past failures is that we can internalise them, in other words we can think that our inability to make something work is because of a character flaw within ourselves.  Thought like “I’m just not motivated. I just don’t have enough willpower.” These thought patterns don’t help you.

So restructure how you view failures into what you learned from that experience, then let it go, and move forward.

Let go of unhelpful habits

There are sooo many things that we do on a day to day basis that aren’t conscious decisions, they are just old habits. Things that we are used to doing. Things that feel familiar and comfortable.

They may be patterns of behaviour that were formed in our childhood, adolescence, or our early 20’s. Take a step back, and for a day notice the things that you do during the day, the choices you make about how to spend your time and energy.

Now compare all of the things you do on autopilot to what your goals and values are. Do they line up? If not, what are new behaviours you can substitute in for the old habits that would get you closer to your goals?

Let go of what other people think

Have you ever gone public with your weight loss goals, even if this is just to your inner circle of friends or family, and then not been able to reach those goals? The fear of failing again might be enough to put you off trying, or at least make you want to avoid telling anyone about your plans.

You are actually depriving yourself of what could be a very important support network in encouraging you, offering brownie points for your accomplishments, and giving you their own tips or tricks you may not have thought of yourself.

Forget the past, forget about worrying over what people will think, set your goals, and tell your tribe.

Let go of unrealistic standards

Here’s a little secret. Any progress is still progress. You don’t have to do everything perfectly. You are already valuable, worthy, and enough. But if you do want to make some changes to your lifestyle to get healthier, celebrate each little improvement you make along the way.

If you picked 2-3 things to improve on each week, imagine where you could be in a year? Ditch the restrictive diet plan, gruelling workout regime, and that nasty inner critique. Start where you are, improve just a little, and enjoy it! Then watch it snowball.