Time to take up 2012!

Yes, 2011 is coming to a close and folk are talking in terms of resolutions again. Now, most people have just about given up on New Year resolutions – and I’m not surprised. What a negative start to something so positive. Talking about ‘giving up’ a whole bunch of favourite habits (allbeit undesirable ones?) at the beginning of a brand new and exciting year is like slamming the door on Hope before it’s even started! Why oh why do we have to ‘give up’ stuff? Can’t we start the year with positives? A new door is opening, we can all see the possibilities available to us with a little hard work, a little effort – or in some cases perhaps lots of hard work and an enormous amount of effort … but these are possibilities, nonetheless, and they need to be embraced so we can leap into 2012 with hope and dreams and determination to make it work! Why then tarnish all that desire for success on the first day by ‘giving up’ a list of favourites? Why not start the year by ‘taking up’ a whole bunch of habits instead? It’s so simple. Just grab pen and paper and get that New Year’s Resolution list you scribbled yesterday and REWRITE IT!!

Giving up alcohol, you say? Why not re-write that in terms of what you’re ‘Taking Up’? How about ‘taking up water/infusions/even non-alcoholic drinks? It’s the same thing, is it not? But so much more positive and, trust me, your brain AND your will power will thank you and love you for it.

Giving up chocolate? Why not take up an alternative type of snack?

Giving up cigarettes? What about taking up life/health/a new lifestyle?

So … are you ready for 2012? Excited? What’s it going to bring? Picture yourself this time next year. What will have changed? How different will you be feeling?

Re-write that list and give up NOTHING! Not on paper and not in your head!  Leave the door wide open. Think about success and success alone. How different will you feel when you have achieved each of those dreams? What will change? Picture it and let’s storm ahead into a new year filled with as many positives as we can cram in! The negatives will creep in … but we’ll be ready – and they’ll be outnumbered! THAT is the goal!

Happy New Year, Everybody!