As the festive season ends the January crusade for a ‘new you’ can seem overwhelming. Mindset mentor, Angela Cox presents some simple, practical New Year’s resolutions you can make for a happy, healthy 2019.
Angela Cox is a mindset mentor from Bolton, the founder of Me Treat weekend getaways and the Mindset Gym community and the author of bestselling self-help book Enough. Angela gives JLife expert tips and tricks that you can follow that will positively influence your mental wellbeing as you begin 2019…
I have spent some 30 years listening to the nagging voice of self-doubt which, over time, increased in volume. I was suffering with undiagnosed eating disorders, low self-worth and despite being outwardly successful, I was crumbling on the inside. Since 2016 I have invested heavily in my mindset health, putting in hours of deliberate practice to re-train my negative self-talk. While I have coupled this with physical exercise and healthy nutrition to transform my body, I firmly believe that the mindset transformation has been the most fundamental and holds the key to a happy and fulfilling future, enabling me to sustain the weight loss and realise that I am enough.
Here are my top five New Year’s resolutions: daily habits that can form the basis of a healthy mindset:
Develop Affirmations
I never go a day without saying my affirmations and I recommend you do the same. Affirmations provide emotional support and encouragement for our unconscious mind, counterbalancing the negative self-talk and helping us feel more positive about situations or about ourselves. Tune into your negative voice and notice what it says. Develop affirmations that provide a positivity boost about the things the inner voice criticises. If you hear ‘you are fat and lazy’, develop an affirmation along the lines of ‘I am full of energy, I exercise often, and I love my body’. Even if you don’t fully believe the latter, affirmations are about faking it until you make it, so anything goes. Start your affirmations with phrases such as ‘I am’ or ‘I choose’ and once you have your list, repeat it often.
Choose Happy
When you wake up, make the first decision you decide to be happy. Happiness is a state of mind – it’s something we can choose to feel as it comes from within us. It isn’t something that is reliant on other people. Choosing happy makes such a difference to the day and even when challenges crop up, if you tackle these from a positive place it keeps the negativity at bay.
Avoid the Energy Drains
If you have people at work or home who can suck every ounce of oxygen from your body with their moaning and a glass half empty view of the world, limit the amount of time you spend with them. If this is difficult, a simple but effective trick to protect yourself is to imagine yourself in a bubble of positivity. It sounds silly, but it really helps to ensure the negative impact of others doesn’t penetrate.
To Me List
We all have ‘to do’ lists and in many cases these can be overwhelming. It’s important, despite how busy we are, to put aside a little time each day for you. At the start of the day, choose at least one thing you are going to do for you. Write this on your ‘to me’ list and make it happen. It might be 10 minutes with a book, five minutes of deep breathing or a coffee with a friend who makes you feel good. Whatever it is, make it your top priority.
Be Grateful
Above all else, always be grateful and focus on this daily. Each evening before you go to bed, find at least three things that you are thankful for about your day and spend a few moments mindfully accepting these. Gratitude is the key to further positive abundance so practice it often.
For more tips and tricks for becoming the best you, check out Angela’s new book Enough, or visit Angela-cox.co.uk.