3 simple resolutions to benefit your well-being

Everything in the universe moves in rhythmic cycles: the planets rotate around the sun, the moons rotate around the planets, and the planets rotate on their own axis. We rise and fall with the sun, and we move slowly from season to season. Each transition, whether from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next or one season to the next, provides an opportunity to start anew. It’s typical to write New Year's resolutions at the beginning of each new calendar year, but this doesn’t have to be the only time and the only way to reflect.

As a hypnotherapist, I am a firm believer in continual self-development. This, for me, is a pleasure rather than a chore. I love learning and I love growing (mindfully rather than physically!) However, resolutions or goals can sometimes put too much focus on the lack of achievement, causing us to ignore the things we have achieved.

So instead of focusing on what I have not done, I find positivity in giving thought to what I have done. Last year, I made some great changes. It is important that when I make a big change, I consider it a trial. Life is capricious, so it helps to be adaptable (this I am not!), though I am able to change my own behaviours when I recognise that something will propel me forward.

I am going to share some positive changes I’ve made to my life over the last few years, changes that I will continue forward until they no longer work for me. They all have good reasons behind them to support my mental and physical health. Maybe if you are stuck in a rut, the same changes will help you, too.

3 ways to make positive changes to your life

1. Rise at 5 am

Some years ago, I realised that I felt tired. I felt tired every evening as I lay my head down in between my children to be with them, cuddling and comforting as they drifted into a peaceful slumber. I found myself staggering out of the darkness into bright light, the warmth of the bed leaving me as I peeled off the duvet to sneak quietly away. The cosiness gone, and me a blinking wreck of exhaustion. Falling down the stairs to reach the mess of the day. Sometimes already tidy, other times not.

I would look from the sofa to my computer, notice the mess again and feel completely overwhelmed, not knowing whether to take a proactive approach to my evening or collapse onto the sofa to watch a dull TV programme alongside my partner. There was the potential of a mumbled conversation, but generally, energy was low and the need to switch off was high.

Once the evening downstairs felt evening enough, we gave ourselves permission to go up to bed. At 6.30 am, the ear-piercing chime of an iPhone alarm signalled the start of a new day. Of course, the snooze button was hit several times because everyone was too damn tired to do anything about it.

It occurred to me one insightful evening that if I were to roll out of the children’s bed and into my own, I would have a full eight hours of sleep by 5 am the next morning. Anything I can do in the evening, I can do in the morning. So, I trialled it, just for a week.

It worked! I awoke, before my alarm, each morning bright-eyed and full of energy. Five years on, the rhythm feels second nature – and it still works. One day it will change, as life does, but for now, I have energy, I am proactive, and life feels good!

2. Reduce your screen time

As time passes, we’re learning more about the darker side of screen time. From blue light disrupting sleep, to online bullying and grooming, to the addictive design tricks used by developers, and the unsettling truth that we’re often the product being sold. For all their benefits, screens can cause just as much harm.

I looked at my screen time and felt uncomfortable. I’m a research geek, and I spend hours searching for the best deal, best day out, best holiday, best information – whatever it is, I will not stop until I feel completely satisfied that I’ve checked every option. However, I also find myself scrolling through my phone every time I’m unoccupied. Leaving me with little time for reflection, time to be creative, time to explore, time to just be. Completely unnecessary, mindless scrolling.

The first step I took to reduce my screen time was to add limits to the amount of time I could spend on each app. I did this via the settings menu on my phone. It worked to an extent. The second step was to stop taking my phone into my children’s bedroom during their bedtime. Instead, I took a book. This step created greater change in my life.

I love reading, but neglected it. This has changed completely, I read books in the day when I find a spare half hour, my children see me reading and feel inspired. When I finish reading, I feel good, in contrast to the negative feelings I am left with after a scroll through social media.

For a long time, I turned my phone off for twenty hours each week. Unfortunately, this now doesn’t work with my lifestyle; however, as soon as it does, it’ll be back. I feel liberated during those hours. It also takes a lot of advanced planning! I need to check out the route if I plan to travel, make proper arrangements if I have plans to meet someone and write down any notes that are on my phone.

I am eager to see where my screen time will go in the future because I still do not feel comfortable with spending 39 of my days and nights each year looking at a phone screen, which is what I do now, when I spend approximately three hours per day, six days per week doing so. Right now, I’ve mitigated the lack of 24 24-hour switch-off time by deleting every social media app from my phone. This helps, but it’s not the same.

3. Consider your body and mind

For the past twenty years, I’ve worked out at least three times a week, and I always try to eat healthily. However, my focus wasn’t always as it is now. Instead of plodding the streets running, I take a more holistic approach to the method of exercise I choose. I combine strength training with running and swimming. There are many benefits to strength training, and I enjoy feeling stronger.

My attention switched from prioritising image to health. Alongside this, I try to view food as fuel. Every day, I move further away from the paradox that is to treat oneself with food. Taking one biscuit as a treat because I chose the opposite all week no longer makes sense. For many of us, there is a large misalignment between our taste buds and what our body needs to survive. The food industry, as it stands, will only make that disparity greater.

Food is a treat for our body when the nutrition allows it to function optimally, in the same way we treat a car well by giving it the fuel it needs.

A quote caught my attention recently, it said:

“Set aside time tonight to do a full moon ritual and write down what you have accomplished in the past six months and honour what you have achieved so far through such a difficult time, and of course, use this full moon to release on paper what is no longer serving you. Safely burn it in a fireproof dish so it can be transmuted by the lunar energy.”

A healthy coincidence! Maybe take some time now to write your accomplishments, if it is unnatural to congratulate yourself, it will take some time. Keep your list beside you and add to it as the days go on. You’ll find many achievements, for sure.