by Glen Alex
Oh boy! It’s that time again when so many people make resolutions, usually to go on a diet or to start working out. While resolutions may be filled with good intentions to enhance your life, most are abandoned by the end of January. In fact, research by fitness app Strava found that most people give up on their resolutions by January 19th, which they call “Quitters Day”. Talk about being short-lived.
Well, if you want more of the same then keep making these empty promises to yourself. If you want a more fulfilling life, then think transformation and not resolutions.
Transformation is a fundamental change or shift, a metamorphosis if you will. Real, effective, and lasting change requires more than 19 days and goes deeper than superficial desires. While losing weight, working out, and saving money are great ways to enhance your life experience, they only scratch the surface. Thus, if you don’t go further inside then you are more likely to give up and give in to habitual ways of being.
If you truly desire to slim down, be more active, be healthier, improve finances, or have healthier relationships, then you must transform the beliefs that create and maintain the conditions you’re unhappy with. Resolutions just don’t cut it; they don’t go deep enough.
I had a client who wanted bariatric surgery because her many resolutions to diet and lose weight failed. She was required by the surgeon to get a psychological assessment to address her issues with food before the procedure. Our sessions revealed that her relationship with food was the root of her overeating. My client’s belief that food was the only source of love and connection with her family and friends led her to eat large portions, eat when full, and overeat junk food.
Only when my client acknowledged and examined her underlying belief, she able transform it to know that food was not her only source of love. Post-op, she controlled her portions, said “no” to the wrong foods, and stopped eating when full. My client opened up to new ways of experiencing genuine love and kept the weight off. She transformed her beliefs about food and changed her life.
Transformation is an internal realignment of your beliefs and values. Inherent in this realignment is a steadfastness that doesn’t require drummed up motivation nor external pressure. Transformation involves genuine commitment that endures setbacks and plateaus. You will flow with the change process rather than resist it. And when you shift your beliefs, your thoughts and behaviors adapt accordingly.
Point your intention toward transformation and away from resolutions. Those false promises are superficial, fleeting, and set you up for failure. Please sit with that for a moment.
Resolutions do not work. If you really want change and improve your life, then you must acknowledge and accept that transformation is the way to better health, more joy, meaningful relationships, and an abundance of goodness. This the first step in the transformation process. And I encourage you to work with a health and wellness professional, like myself, on the next steps. A life or health coach, psychotherapist, or other health expert who addresses your wholeness can guide you to success.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Author, and Podcast Host, my work is about total health and the whole person. My mission is to help you be joyful, connected, confident, and complete, the life experience I call WELLTH, which is health + other riches.
To achieve wealth in 2025, be like my client and think transformation. Not resolutions.
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