Time for a fresh start?

With the clean slate of a new year comes the opportunity to reset, refresh and prioritise what’s important for the year to come. This poses a great time to consider overall wellness and the alignment of your mental and physical health.

So in the spirit of stepping into 2022 on the right foot, we’ve put together 10 tips to help you keep on track.

Consider each day, week and month as a fresh start.

What are your goals for today? What are you striving to accomplish this week, and what steps are you taking towards your monthly goals? Even if you had a bad food day yesterday, or didn’t make it out to exercise as you had planned, tomorrow is always a new day to frame as a fresh start and get back on track.

 

Build positive habits with intention.

Ever sit down to do something and find yourself scrolling mindlessly through your phone and all of a sudden, 20 minutes has passed? Take a fresh approach to your daily routine and run your day, don’t let the day run you. Decide how you spend your time and stick to it. Want to go out for a morning walk every day at 7:30? Put it in your diary and make sure you plan your morning to set yourself up to be able to get out there and do it. You could even diarise allocated screen time to catch up on texts and social media notifications or enable ‘focus mode’ to filter calls and texts into work mode or personal time.

New year's resolutions are not always sustainable.

The buzz phrase "new year new you" can be inclined to sway us towards ‘smashing unrealistic goals’ that might seem attainable during the first few weeks of the year, but slip away as the months go on if set tasks are a bit too restrictive. Rather than resolutions, you might like to try setting lifestyle tweaks that can be implemented each day, week or month, all with the ultimate end goal of improving your overall wellbeing for the better.

 

Reduce stress.

Support your body’s stress response by utilising some of the stress-supporting ingredients, like Ashwagandha, Magnesium, Passionflower, and even Probiotics to name a few, which can support your body’s nervous system. Also during stressful times, your Vitamin C can get depleted so keep eating kiwifruit, capsicums, and citrus whenever you can. You can always top it up with a supplement if need be.

Nourish your body.

Try a new plant-based recipe, change up your fresh fruit and veg and make a conscious effort to try to eat the colours of the rainbow and produce that is locally in season. Fuel your brain with healthy fats such as fish oil, and herbs like Ginkgo to support focus and mental clarity. You could even take the hassle out of your busy schedule and subscribe to a fruit and veggie delivery or a food box so you know that you have nourishing ingredients delivered to your door.

Take care of yourself.

Care for your skin from within - stay hydrated, and try adding collagen into your daily routine. Love your smile and make sure you’re brushing, flossing and using mouthwash. Find yourself a drink bottle – great for on the go, for those important meetings or when you’re out and about.

Invest in yourself.

Set time aside to listen to podcasts, upskill yourself, learn a new language, train for a half marathon, pick up a new hobby. Whatever you would like to do for yourself, make this year the year that you do it - after all, you are the biggest priority in your life.

Find balance.

It’s been a crazy couple of years and spending time apart from the people and things that we love can really make you consider what truly sparks joy in your life. Keep it positive, whether it’s the shows you are bingeing on Netflix, words you are reading or the social media posts you’re scrolling through. Eliminate the negative and self-monitor when you feel yourself in a negativity loop. It's fine to vent but then counter with a couple of things that you feel grateful for, to reset your brain.

Attend the boulders first.

A good rule of thumb is to do the big tasks first in the day (the boulders) then the pebbles, then the sand. You won’t feel so overwhelmed. Also, you will notice if the ‘little’ tasks are taking up too much time for the desired outcome result.

Write it down.

Whether it’s a simple list, a spreadsheet, a notebook or even a vision board. Whatever method works best for you, use it, update it and create the life you would like to live.

2022 is your year. If today wasn’t a great day, reset, refresh and start again tomorrow.

And remember, run your day - don’t let the day run you.