Happy 2014!

Can you believe that it’s 2014 already? The last half of the year goes by so quickly!

Did you make some resolutions this year? Have you broken any of them yet?

I did something a little different this year. I set what I call intentions. Saying that I intend to do something makes it seem more purposeful than resolving to do something.

The other thing is that I set specific and measurable goals. For instance, “get healthy, exercise more and lose weight” turned into “eat veggies and fruit at least twice a day, choose water over tea after noon, and do at least ten minutes of exercise each day”.

Now I know what you’re thinking - ten minutes of exercise? What good will that do? And she didn’t even mention dieting or how much weight to lose!

One of the keys to successful goal setting, especially when you have ADHD like we do, is to set ridiculously small goals so that you get into the habit of doing them.

So ten minutes of exercise is nothing, right? There are some really good workouts out there that last about that long, but keeping it loose like this, I could do a ten minute walk, ten minutes of yoga, or ten minutes of just dancing around (as long as no one was looking).

Now imagine that I’ve been doing this sort of random movement for a month or so. Am I still timing myself? Probably not. I am at least a little bit fitter? Probably. What are the chances that I decide to go for 15 or 20 minutes? Pretty good, I’d say.

The idea is to get me into the habit of moving, with the expectation that I will eventually want to challenge myself further.

And dieting? I don’t do it anymore. I eat. I eat for health and for enjoyment. And I try to learn to enjoy salads more and pasta less. But if I have the pasta, I enjoy that too. I slow down. I savor it. And I find that I eat less of it.

Even better - there are no longer any “bad” foods on my list. In this case, bad means I want them, but they’re bad so I shouldn’t.

For me, this is about moving and being healthy and not about obsessing over food.

So how about you take another look at your resolutions? If “get organized”, “lose weight”, and “be on time” are on the list, give them another thought.

“Get organized” is way too big and broad. What part of your disorganization is affecting you the most? Maybe it’s your bill paying area, or your closet. How about working on that this year? Just that. Nothing else. One thing at a time.

See what I mean? Narrow your focus down. Make your goals more realistic. Be easy on yourself.

Maybe you could add “eat more chocolate” to that list….