5 suggestions to remake New Year’s resolutions
You’re not alone… you set too many, that were perhaps overly ambitious or were all focused on giving things up and quitting the unhealthy habits over adding things in and boosting your wellbeing.
So, if your dry January has been rather damp and you’ve failed to get going with overly ambitious goals – don’t despair! Take a minute, a day, a week; forget the fails and refocus. Put your wellbeing first and consider things you can add to your life for enjoyment, development and growth.
Here’s 5 suggestions to remake your resolutions…
Connect
Connect or reconnect with people around you; family, friends, colleagues. Spend time developing these relationships, consider ways you can spend more time together. Being so busy at life, often we find ourselves not being able to fit people and social time in, they are the first to go and the things we need most. Consider activities you could do together, that ticks-off a couple of boxes in one go. For example, going for a weekly run – exercise and socialise (two ticks in one go).
Keep learning
Learning new things and developing knowledge and skills can give such a great sense of achievement and confidence boost. It can also lead to new opportunities, pathways and creating new connections.
Invest in yourself, upskill and build up those ‘additional achievements’ on your CV. We have a host of qualifications and CPD workshops on offer in running, coaching, officiating and more…
• Click to find out more about our running and coaching qualifications and courses
Give
Even the smallest act can count; a smile, a thank you, a compliment, can make yours and another person’s day. Bigger things like volunteering; giving your time, energy and commitment can boost your mood and wellbeing. Giving a new sense of purpose and channel to project your passion, again creating new connections and opportunities.
There are so many ways you can volunteer in our sport; at local clubs, leading and supporting social runs, at events and more…
• Click to find your local club and make enquiries about getting involved and volunteering
• Click to find out more about all the ways you can get involved with coaching
• Click to find out more about all the ways you can get involved with officiating
Take notice
Be more aware of the present moment, your thoughts and feelings, the world around – be more mindful towards yourself and others. It’s OK to take time to reset and refocus as often as you need. Doing this can positively change the way you feel in a moment and how you deal with challenges. Ask yourself how your resolutions and goals make you feel, if good keep doing it, if bad stop or make some changes.
Be active
As we all know January feels like the longest month of the year after an expensive Christmas. You don’t have to shell out a small fortune to get active – running is free! Whether you join a club or social run, you will be made to feel more than welcome, a great way to exercise and socialise with minimal cost. Getting outside to get active is a great way to destress and clear the mind, fresh-air, greenery and changes of scenery – we guarantee you’ll catch the running bug in no time.
Set goals using the S.M.A.R.T principles – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely – and don’t put pressure on yourself with too many. If your goal is to run 5k or a marathon – set a date/time to do this by, maybe that means entering an event… break your training goals down week by week, find people, groups, clubs with run leaders and coaches who can support you, use their expertise and knowledge to help you smash your goals.