Can you
believe it? The New Year is officially here and we are nearly through January
already! If you’re like most people, you started off the New Year with a resolution
– a promise to change a behavior or add a behavior in the New Year.
You’ve had
about 3 full weeks to work on your New Year’s resolution. So, how’s it going so
far? Have you stuck to your plan, or did you become distracted?
Don’t feel
discouraged. Instead, look at your resolution in a different way. Trish
West-Low (PT – Toms River) once told me that we shouldn’t be thinking about
resolutions which could be easily abandoned, but instead focus on intentions
because if we get derailed, we can always refocus and reassert our intention.
Now, that’s
really something isn’t it? An intention does not seem to carry the same weight
if you end up not following through with your resolution.
Intentions
are best set when they are within reach—something you can see and touch;
something you can create an action plan for.
Perhaps
your intention for the New Year is to become healthier. To help you set your
intention, you should think of a personal memory of when you felt your best and
focus on getting back to that feeling. In order to get there, you need to have
a plan. It’s not going to happen overnight, but as long as you are moving in
the right direction and focusing on the route it takes to get there, your
intention can be fulfilled.
Many of you
have already heard about my morning routine. For the last 14 years at 4:30 a.m.
Monday through Friday I have met my now 85-year-old father at the home I grew
up in. We chat about 15 to 20 minutes, just to catch up, and then in separate
cars we head to the gym to get our sweat on!
The gym opens
at 5 a.m., and the group that is dedicated enough to work out that early is not
very large – maybe around 20 people or so. Many people make a New Year’s
resolution that focuses on health and fitness—losing a certain amount of
weight, focusing on moving more and eating better, or what have you. So, we’ve
seen our small group of morning gym go-ers really increase.
And yet,
year after year, after just a few short weeks we see that number start to
decrease again.
Now, I’m
not one of those regulars at the gym who complain about the “resolution starters”
who start coming just because it’s a new year. Instead, I commend them! After
all, everyone has to start somewhere.
If each of
the new faces I see at the gym set an intention on January 1 instead of stating
a resolution, they’d look at their goal in a different way. They’d plan what
they need to do in order to reach that goal and be successful.
So this
year, the intention I am working towards is to be a better person than I was yesterday. Some days it is harder to
measure, but I am purposefully working every day on this effort.
Our
intentions at Children’s Specialized Hospital are articulated in our vision to
create a world where every child has a chance to reach their intentions – their
best self. We know we are a big part of helping them take that first step, say their
first word, or connect in a way you could only dream about.
That is
what we do each and every day. We are working towards that vision – one step at
a time.
What vision
are you stepping into to? What do you wish for in this New Year, and how will
you get there? I would love to hear what your intentions are for 2015!
