CELEBRATE!
It's February! You survived the chaos of January resolutions, but you may also feel your resolve dwindling. There's a solution to this phenomenon that I like to call February Syndrome: celebrating! So pop a bottle of champagne and settle in while I explain.
What exactly are we celebrating? All the little wins, of course. Although you may not have reached your ultimate goal, you're making progress! Celebrating allows us to look back at where we started and highlight the changes we've made in pursuit of our larger goal. Maybe you've cut back on the late night snacking, perhaps you've started taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or maybe you're simply more conscious of your health habits even if you may not be following the healthiest path. ALL of these are great short term goals! Change does not happen overnight. It will take time, it will take work, and when motivation falls short, it will take discipline. Celebration gives us the chance to positively reinforce our new habits so that they become fun instead of loathsome or overwhelming. It was a wise woman who once said "The more you celebrate in your life, the more there is in life to celebrate."
Everyone rewards themselves a little differently. For some, celebration takes the form of a luxurious trip or a new outfit. For others, it's accomplishing something you couldn't before or were too nervous to try. Regardless of whether your fix is that little black dress or skydiving, just do it! Even something as simple as posting your efforts on social media is rewarding because you will likely be surprised by the supportive response of your followers. Use these rewards to your advantage. Let them motivate you to keep achieving your micro-goals on your way to your ultimate goal. When you allow yourself to celebrate the little things, you look forward to making more progress step by step because you know there is another reward lying just ahead.
This is also a perfect time to re-evaluate your progress thus far. It's been one month since most of made our resolutions. Maybe you're not quite where you wanted to be or maybe you've surprised yourself and advanced further than you'd initially planned. Either way, use this rate to set a realistic goal (and reward!) for yourself by the end of February. Think about why you started this journey to begin with. Use this as motivation to drive your efforts through this next month so you can celebrate that too!