With every New Year comes the question, “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” My first one is to be less annoyed by that question.

This year, I decided to reframe some of my negativity surrounding New Year’s resolutions. Manifesting is taking a desired outcome and focusing your thoughts on that; some even speak manifestations “into existence,” meaning saying them out loud at a happy hour with friends or just in conversation with their partner. Manifesting is not technically evidence-based, but it can lead to goal setting.

So, let’s start with this. Think of some things that you hope for this year. Manifest them. Say them out loud to yourself in this moment. Yes, right now.

If you’re like me, most of my resolutions are habits such as meditating more, exercising more, and in doing so, making more time for me. A behavioral scientist, BJ Fogg, indicates that the essence of forming habits is by making them “tiny.” You take a behavior you want, make that behavior smaller, and find where it fits naturally in your life, and nurture its growth.

For me, that means adding meditation to my daily routine where it makes sense. I LOVE my morning coffee (cliche?). Therefore this is a very rewarding behavior for me to use to add one of  these habits in. I have added meditation and abbreviated yoga (simple poses for 5 minutes without guidance) to my morning routine before I drink coffee. It works because every time I reach for the delicious smelling morning beverage, I have a little sticky note on my cabinet about the coffee pot that says, “Meditation and Yoga first :).” Every time I meditate and do yoga, I reward myself with my morning cup, and maybe even a little dance in the kitchen.

Are you still with me? After you have manifested your New Year’s resolution, shrink it. Find where you can fit this smaller resolution into your daily routine. Set yourself a reminder- use a sticky note, a reminder app, alarm on Alexa, etc. Make this a priority, and before you know it, your brain is rewired to incorporate this habit into your daily routine, which you can leave where it is or build on.

Manifest, plan, act. You got this. Happy 2022.

Jason Gorski, NCSP, LPC

 

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