Do you know that 68% of those who set new year’s goals expect to quit before February? The main reason we don’t stay with our goals is a lack of motivation.
Of course, motivation is a valid point, but in my experience, the reason you don’t follow through on your goal is that you pick the wrong goal. Either the goal was an outcome goal or the why behind your goal was not strong enough.
I don’t want you to be in the 68% group! I want you to get going with your goals, chase your passions, and follow through on what you said you would do.
So, if you’re looking for some inspiration or realised your goals weren’t really what would have taken you to the finish line, I want to share 5 of my healthy habits to build energy this year with you.
But before we start, get your copy of my NEW e-book The wholehearted diet. Discover the power of plant-based eating, stress less, and have more energy.
#1 Drink More Water
This year I am truly committing to staying hydrated. And I want you to have this as a goal too. Yes, it seems like a small and easy goal, but it plays a big role in your energy levels.
The main reasons to stay hydrated are to regulate your body temperature, keep your joints lubricated, deliver nutrients to cells, ensure your organs function properly, and prevent infections. What’s more, staying hydrated impacts your cognition, clarity of thinking, mood, and sleep, to name a few.
But you may ask, what drinking water has to do with energy levels?
Well, water helps to keep your muscles energized. We both know that when you feel dehydrated, you feel tired, have low energy, and your mood plummets.
If you are still not convinced, and losing weight is one of your wellness goals, you may want to reconsider. Studies show that drinking water helps with weight loss and weight maintenance. It helps to burn calories and suppress your appetite.
The main reason I want to drink more water is to have glowing skin. The first sign of dehydration always appears on my skin. I would love to treat myself to spa days as often as needed, but this may not be feasible.
Drinking more water is a less time-consuming and cost-effective, may I add, option. It’s the natural beauty from the inside out.
But drinking more water is always a great way to reduce the intake of sugary beverages. If your goal for this year is to quit sugar or reduce the consumption of refined sugar, drinking more water can help you with that too!
#2 Eat Regular Lunches
We have all been guilty of skipping lunches. It is something I don’t want to admit, but I skip lunches more often than I would like to. Why?
Because it’s easy.
I’m usually busy and in a creative phase, so I don’t want to stop. And when I do, I often tell myself that it is too late to have lunch now, so I just skip it. Have you ever done that?
There is a science to how our body processes food, how nutrients are distributed, and the proper functionality of our organs. But the regulation of eating is closely linked to our energy levels.
Food is fuel. And when we don’t put fuel in, we can’t function on a high level. I had many days when I powered through without lunch. The result was a headache, fatigue, low energy, and irritability.
It’s hard to perform at your best when you can’t think straight, you lose your temper over nothing, and your stomach is making embarrassing sounds.
Skipping lunch starts a chain of reactions. When you don’t eat in the middle of the day, you are hungry by the time you get home. So, what do you do? You reach out for a quick snack.
This results in consuming unwanted calories and throwing off your digestive system. When you have a quick snack before dinner, you are not as hungry, so you will eat less of your evening meal. You may feel hungry later on, and again reach out for some comforting carbohydrates when it’s time to go to sleep.
Can you see how a simple choice of skipping lunch takes you down the rabbit hole? So, let’s commit to eating a healthy lunch to look and feel good.
#3 Be More Intentional
Last year I must have signed up for a gazillion workshops, seminars, masterclasses, courses, bootcamps, and challenges. Why? Because I’m a sponge for knowledge.
But truth be told, the more things I consumed, the more I was confused. All that information made me feel overwhelmed. It’s very hard to make the right choices when we feel overwhelmed.
So, this year I want to be more intentional.
How about you? Can you be more intentional about how you spend your time, how you react, what you eat, how you think, or whom you surround yourself with?
If you tell yourself that you are busy, overwhelmed, and stressed out, then you are not intentional about your day, time, what matters, and what you prioritise. When you don’t know where your focus should go, your mental and physical energy decreases.
To be more intentional about your day, wellness, or life in general, you need to pause more often, create space, and be more present in the here and now. But being more intentional also means being grateful for what you have.
When we feel grateful, we can’t feel stressed.
#4 Rest More
Who is with me on this one? If I was to describe my word for 2022, it would have to be rest! Or that I’d take time to rest to be more precise. Did it happen?
Hmm.. not so much. There was always something to do, places to go, and people to meet. There is always the next task to complete, another project to start, and another soccer practice to get the kids to.
But when you don’t take rest, deep down, it means you don’t prioritise yourself. As women, we are masters of prioritising everyone else except us.
My commitment this year is to have more mental and physical energy. I have bold goals and I can only achieve them if I have the energy. And to have the energy I need to rest.
We live in a productivity-obsessed world, where we wear busy as a badge of honour. But more and more research show that being busy doesn’t mean being productive. In fact, the opposite is closer to the truth.
When you are well-rested and have adequate downtime, you have high mental and physical energy. You are more creative, resourceful, and goal-orientated. You can find solutions to your problems quicker, and you are more courageous.
#5 Practice Visualization
I like to have some fun and stretch myself at the same time when I pursue healthy habits. I have been trying to hop on the visualization wagon for years (Yes, that’s how long I have been thinking about doing it!).
I need to be brutally honest with you and say up front that I never paid much attention to visualisation. I never thought of using visualisation as a technique in my coaching or personal development.
But the more I stumble across visualisation, and the more I listen to my mentors, the more I see that visualisation can be a powerful tool. The science behind visualisation is that you program your neuropathways to look for ways to get what you want in life.
Visualisation activates your motor cortex, allowing you mentally rehearse future situations. It helps you to prepare for what is to happen. Your brain cannot distinguish between what is real and what is not real. By engaging your brain in visualisation, you get your body to see and feel the success.
You feel like you have already reached your goals. If you ever told yourself that you don’t feel like it, you need to try visualisation!
So how can you use visualisation to achieve your wellness goals?
Healthy Habits to Set for 2023
If you feel like you are falling behind on your goals, don’t worry. It doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve them! It only means that your motivation diminishes because most likely your goals were not suitable.
To perk your inspiration add all or just one of my wellness goals. This year I am committing to creating more mental and physical energy through adequate water intake and nutrition. I am planning to be more intentional with how I use my time, and energy, and how I show up. I’m determined to rest more and use visualisation to smash my wellness goals!
How about you? What healthy habits will you develop this year?
Before you go, have you gotten your copy of my NEW e-book The wholehearted diet. Discover the power of plant-based eating, stress less, and have more energy.
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