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New Year, New.....
Not being one for making resolutions these days, it seems that my sub-conscious thinking has conveniently blocked out the inevitable January motivational articles and digital advertisements that promise to "make your life better", "waist smaller", etc etc. Either that or there are no digital advertisements. Could it be that the post modern, digital-centric, generation that is millennial / xennial have finally put an end to this culture? Are we witnessing a change to this pattern of "starting life again in January" mantra? Or could there be a new way to improve our lives? From one perspective (actually, mine!) I have taken the view that every morning deserves a personal resolution so that by the end of the day, there is a feeling of accomplishment, trying, effort. In so many ways our new digital way of living supports this view. I have listed a few ways in which my life has changed so that I now review progress daily and not annually:
1. Healthy Mind
According to MentalHealth.org, the organisation that supports people to look after their own and others mental health and help people to thrive through understanding, protecting and sustaining their mental health; New Years Resolution setting can be a non-productive way to improve your life and make progress. It is advised that we instead take a self compassionate look at how we approach self development and our mental health this year. In the blog post written especially for January 2018, the advice given is to not focus so much on achieving giant goals before Christmas 2018 but to eat healthy, find new social hobbies, spend more time with friends and family, do 30 minutes of gentle exercise a day or get outside into green space more.
I love this step by step approach. As a single parent working full time, I found myself in a state of perpetual panic, anxiety and constant movement. Constant movement that seemed to be akin to an exercise running machine; not making any actual forward motion. The anxiety and panic was an exertion of energy that returned very little investment. It had not made me richer, prettier or 2 kilos lighter as was my short term goal. It had instead made me stressed and snappy which was not the type of person I wanted to be. I did not wait for January 1st to come around. It was around November 2017 when I start a new routine. Waking up at 5am everyday was not easy in the beginning but the new practice of early morning prayer, meditations, drinking warm water (sometimes with fresh lemon) had positive benefits for my mental health, physical health and started my day in a positive and optimistic light.
2. Healthy Body
The Millennial generation don't pay for gym memberships. That is a statistics fact based on analysis and the new wave of app based fitness solutions targeted at this group. According to How Life Works that created a profile of the way that young adults exercise today based on statistical evidence, the way millennials keep fit must include; Shorter, full-body workouts that are also fun instead of steady-state cardio exercises as a starting point for losing weight and getting healthy and a more holistic approach to health instead of diets that emphasize rapid weight loss. The research states that because of the millennial generation shows "...preferences for fun, personalized workouts and holistic wellness have fueled trends with far-reaching implications for the food, tech, and healthcare industries. And it’s only just the beginning of a growing tide." I do agree with this.
As a borderline millennial, or "Xennial" (those born in the early eighties and perhaps late seventies - I like to call us, the "early-eighteasers" because you cannot define us!) I don't mind joining a gym for a little while but quite frankly, I am super busy, value my social life and my money too much to pay £50 - £whatever per month just to sweat around a room doing something I could do at home. As a teenager, I loved to run, It was high impact, outside activity, fresh air, green grass, sweated out stress, sweated out calories and kept me slim, relaxed and strong all in one hour a day. If a company can offer this with a social twist, then they have my business.
3. Career forward
BPS World, global resourcing experts who work across a number of sectors, specialising in technology, marketing and engineering conducted a survey in March 2017 where they polled 1,1250 senior decision makers and consumers in full or part time work and found out that online behaviour of those who are looking for a new job is changing. The survey found that more than three quarters of employees (79%) would be sure to check out an employer online before accepting a job offer, and 74% of employers doing the same when hiring someone, with Facebook ranking as the most like website to look first. Why so mch research? It seems that jobseekers like to shop around for a job before accepting an offer. Gone are the days where you just have to accept what you are given and be thankful having a job, is the market changing?
5. Abundant Love
Saving the most important until last, showing love every day is the constant goal. Finding romantic love is a common New Year Resolution and one that admittedly could be fine tuned. Fine tuned because in order to find love one must first understand that love is the one unconditional constant in the universe that exists in itself regardless of who we are and what we do. It is up to us to realise this and just accept. As it is written; "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself"; Love is the most important resolution for this year as it is for every single day.
1. Healthy Mind
According to MentalHealth.org, the organisation that supports people to look after their own and others mental health and help people to thrive through understanding, protecting and sustaining their mental health; New Years Resolution setting can be a non-productive way to improve your life and make progress. It is advised that we instead take a self compassionate look at how we approach self development and our mental health this year. In the blog post written especially for January 2018, the advice given is to not focus so much on achieving giant goals before Christmas 2018 but to eat healthy, find new social hobbies, spend more time with friends and family, do 30 minutes of gentle exercise a day or get outside into green space more.
I love this step by step approach. As a single parent working full time, I found myself in a state of perpetual panic, anxiety and constant movement. Constant movement that seemed to be akin to an exercise running machine; not making any actual forward motion. The anxiety and panic was an exertion of energy that returned very little investment. It had not made me richer, prettier or 2 kilos lighter as was my short term goal. It had instead made me stressed and snappy which was not the type of person I wanted to be. I did not wait for January 1st to come around. It was around November 2017 when I start a new routine. Waking up at 5am everyday was not easy in the beginning but the new practice of early morning prayer, meditations, drinking warm water (sometimes with fresh lemon) had positive benefits for my mental health, physical health and started my day in a positive and optimistic light.
2. Healthy Body
The Millennial generation don't pay for gym memberships. That is a statistics fact based on analysis and the new wave of app based fitness solutions targeted at this group. According to How Life Works that created a profile of the way that young adults exercise today based on statistical evidence, the way millennials keep fit must include; Shorter, full-body workouts that are also fun instead of steady-state cardio exercises as a starting point for losing weight and getting healthy and a more holistic approach to health instead of diets that emphasize rapid weight loss. The research states that because of the millennial generation shows "...preferences for fun, personalized workouts and holistic wellness have fueled trends with far-reaching implications for the food, tech, and healthcare industries. And it’s only just the beginning of a growing tide." I do agree with this.
As a borderline millennial, or "Xennial" (those born in the early eighties and perhaps late seventies - I like to call us, the "early-eighteasers" because you cannot define us!) I don't mind joining a gym for a little while but quite frankly, I am super busy, value my social life and my money too much to pay £50 - £whatever per month just to sweat around a room doing something I could do at home. As a teenager, I loved to run, It was high impact, outside activity, fresh air, green grass, sweated out stress, sweated out calories and kept me slim, relaxed and strong all in one hour a day. If a company can offer this with a social twist, then they have my business.
3. Career forward
BPS World, global resourcing experts who work across a number of sectors, specialising in technology, marketing and engineering conducted a survey in March 2017 where they polled 1,1250 senior decision makers and consumers in full or part time work and found out that online behaviour of those who are looking for a new job is changing. The survey found that more than three quarters of employees (79%) would be sure to check out an employer online before accepting a job offer, and 74% of employers doing the same when hiring someone, with Facebook ranking as the most like website to look first. Why so mch research? It seems that jobseekers like to shop around for a job before accepting an offer. Gone are the days where you just have to accept what you are given and be thankful having a job, is the market changing?
5. Abundant Love
Saving the most important until last, showing love every day is the constant goal. Finding romantic love is a common New Year Resolution and one that admittedly could be fine tuned. Fine tuned because in order to find love one must first understand that love is the one unconditional constant in the universe that exists in itself regardless of who we are and what we do. It is up to us to realise this and just accept. As it is written; "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself"; Love is the most important resolution for this year as it is for every single day.
