New Years Resolutions – Do They Work For You?
Well done for making it through January! Officially the longest, dullest month of the year. As if that wasn’t enough we seem to be blasted with New Year New Me from every angle. Well I’m here to tell you – there’s absolute nothing wrong with the person you were at 23:59 on 31 December 2021.
I used to make resolutions every year, and then get annoyed and miserable when I didn’t achieve them. It was always about getting smaller, or being better in some way. I stopped making them altogether for a few years, and then I started making resolutions that added to my life. My favourite so far (and it makes it onto the list every year) is Pet More Dogs. I’ve also resolved to go to a gig every month, because nothing makes me happier than listening to live music.
Adding Not Taking Away
I made a commitment to myself to do more of the things which I enjoyed. I was adding to my life, making it bigger instead of taking things away and making it smaller. When we take things away our brain freaks out! We get into a ‘scarcity mindset’ and can become obsessed with what we don’t have, rather than having a more realistic view of what we do have.
If you’d like to add things to your life, and make your world bigger, we’ve got lots of opportunities coming up at Trowbridge Community Centre. We are currently running a Digital Drop-In on Wednesday mornings, and on Fridays you can access the CAST Food Pantry
Before Christmas, we did a test run of some Wellbeing Workshops at Trowbridge Community Centre. Some of my CCHA colleagues came and we spent time trying out different activities which can help increase feelings of wellbeing. Evidence suggests that if you experience feelings of low mood, anxiety, or stress then doing something which fits into these 5 themes below can help:
- Take Notice
- Learn
- Movement
- Connect
- Give
(Source: Five ways to wellbeing – Mind )
We practiced breathing techniques, grounding exercises, printing our own wrapping paper, making cards, printing out photos to make fridge magnets, and making artwork based on what we we’re letting go of and what we were grateful for. We’ll be running more of the these workshops through the year. What would you like to see at Trowbridge? Contact us and let us know what you need more of.
Thursday 3rd February we’re taking part in Time to Change Wales’ Time To Talk Day . I’ll be there from 10am for coffee, chats, and connection. We’ll have some of the activities from the Wellbeing Workshops available, and you can find out more out our Living Life to the Full Wellbeing Course.
References
- How to Make (and Keep) a New Year’s Resolution – Smarter Living Guides, The New York Times.
- Book Recommendation: Atomic Habits by James Clear – He offers an email newsletter which you can sign up for, totally free, and packed with helpful information.
Article written by Jane McKenna, Wellbeing Mentor for CCHA. Jane specialises in mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing, recognising that healthy habits build a healthy life. She also runs our Living Life to the Full course which uses techniques inspired by CBT to help overcome some of the mental health challenges we experience in life.