How to Avoid New Year Overwhelm in 5 Easy Steps
We’re only three weeks into 2022, and you’re already fed up of those resolutions you set before the clock struck 12 on New Year’s Eve.
You had such high hopes for the year ahead: stepping into the next stage of your career; overhauling your lifestyle; changing your diet; abandoning all bad habits; ditching the booze; quitting smoking; going to the gym every day; staying off social media; slashing screen time in half (at least); drinking less caffeine; spending time in nature every day; taking more trips with your family; seeing your friends more often; meditating daily, and finally getting a handle on mindfulness.
Such high hopes. So many resolutions. So much overwhelm.
That list sounds ridiculous, right? There’s not a human on this earth who could tackle all of those things at once and not feel daunted – or ready to throw in the towel after only a few weeks. But how many of us unwittingly put that immense pressure on our own shoulders every January 1st?
Your list might be a little smaller, but I’ll bet it’s still packed full of ‘must dos’ and ‘can’t haves’. And while the start of a brand new calendar year feels like the perfect time to make new and start afresh, do you really have to tackle everything at once? Or is there a better way?
Making Positive Change, Without the Overwhelm
Your best chance of achieving change is if that change feels achievable. Giving yourself too much to tackle in one go is simply setting yourself up for failure – which is no good for your mental health, and a total drain on your wellbeing.
Any changes you choose to make at the start of the year (or at any other time) are meant to make you feel better; choose better; live better; love better. So instead of adding to your stress with unrealistic and gruelling resolutions, take something from the tips below:
Evaluate your priorities: What’s actually important to you? What really matters? Why is that more important than anything else? Connecting with your ‘why’ and reminding yourself of what drives you is a really effective way of understanding and following through on your desire for change.
Remember that January is just another month: No, really. January is just another month, like any other. Why do you have to make all of your changes in this one month? January is cold and wet, packed with post-Christmas blues, and contains approximately 2,561 days. If you need to be kind to yourself this month, some of those changes can wait.
Micro dose your ambitions: Instead of trying to tackle everything in one go, break each of your goals into smaller steps. For example: you want to go from a meat-loving carnivore to vegan convert. Cold turkey (forgive the pun) can be tough – so why not start with meat-free Mondays? Dairy-free Tuesdays? Nut-milk Wednesdays? Building up in small increments can make the end goal feel far less daunting.
Avoid the ‘all or nothing’ approach: One of the reasons that so many diets (to use a common example) fail is because people hold themselves to unrealistic standards; when they make a slip – as all humans are wont to do – what’s the point of sticking to it? You’ve failed. You may as well give up now. WRONG. It’s one slip; one blip. Heck, even if it’s 15 blips, it doesn’t matter – so long as you’re still on your journey to change.
Love yourself, hard: Whenever you set yourself the challenge to change, it’s crucial to remind yourself of just how awesome you already are. Sure, you might want to grow – and that’s great – but don’t lose sight of all that you are; all that you’ve done; all that you’ve already achieved in life. If you need a reminder, write everything down: from the friends that you’ve kept to the family that you’ve made to the career that you’ve forged.
Supporting You in the Year Ahead
Life gets lonely sometimes; especially with more of us working from home again.
Getting through challenging times and making positive change is much easier with a strong support network around you. FormScore is here to give you that support. Whether you pick up tips from the Friday Form bi-weekly newsletter, follow Founder Rob Stephenson’s wellbeing wisdom on LinkedIn, or soak up the support, insight and tailored content that the FormScore app has to offer, we’re here to make your journey a little less overwhelming.
Wishing you all the best that 2022 has to offer.