Why January Isn’t the Best Month to Start a Whole New Routine
- 2023-01-18 12:00:00 By
- Megan Swan
If you really want to make lasting changes it is best to get started with gradual shifts that are easy to maintain over time than jump right in to making 360 degree changes all at once. When wellness practices become a way of life and not a checkmark on your to do list their cumulative effects albeit slower are more long lasting, sustainable and impactful in the long run. It took you decades to get where you are today, it is going to take 6 months to a year for you to make drastic lasting changes in the opposite direction.
This month I wanted to share with you the article I wrote for my column in the Sober Curator that speaks to this unpopular opinion in depth. Sure, start today, but start small and be patient. Rome wasn't built in a day. It is the ongoing consistency with micro improvements that add up over time and set you up for a long life steeped in well-being.
Excerpt:
“Nature is in the dead of winter, a season for rest, hibernating, laying low, and recovery. We are gathering our energy. Regeneration is happening, but it is still underground. The seeds of good intentions, good ideas, and massive change will explode energetically in the spring. Traditionally we jump on this “new year, new you” bandwagon well because of two things:
- It is heavily marketed to us to boost sales in a month historically low for the economy due to overspending during the holidays – overconsumption all around. So even though we might not be able to afford it, we buy in for reason no. 2.
- Many of us feel so guilty for overindulging over the holidays on all the things we don’t usually spend on, indulge in, splurge for, eat or drink. We feel shitty emotionally, physically, mentally, and maybe spiritually because of the overconsumption and the massive vacuum created when we go from TOO MUCH to nothing in terms of nourishment, stimulation, socialization, celebration, and extension of our energy.
This cycle is so ingrained that we further buy into it because we know we will make healthier choices in January. Of course, many do, and it is possible to become a new you starting Jan 1, but don’t feel bad if you are not energetically on this bandwagon. From nature’s perspective, it doesn’t make sense.
Making resolutions, setting goals, and creating a new vision for yourself is the last thing you should do in this state of mind, body, and spirit. Making changes from a place of guilt and fear sets you up for failure.
However, we want to feel better, and we’ve had this urgency implanted that changes must start in January and produce results fast! This is why we buy into all the hype, sign up for a bunch of programs, challenges, and memberships, and set unaligned goals that are hard to keep up with after the first month or three.
Read the full interview here.
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