“New Year, New You” is a commonly used phrase this time of year. It encourages us to renew ourselves in hopes of becoming the “better” us that we dream of, while providing all the diet pills, shake weights and gluten-free cookies we could ever need to get the bod we’ve always wanted 😉 It promotes change from the holiday season, as new year’s resolutions are made, and provides a platform for people to imagine clean-slating their approach to life to become a “new you.”

When you really stop and think about this phrase, it encourages forgetting about the “old you” and leaving past experiences in the dust to pursue a changed, improved approach to life. But what if you took a moment to recognize that the learnings of your past are the most valuable things you possess. The fact that you yo-yo dieted for years and gained all the weight back is a powerful lesson that you never lose. The fact that you pushed yourself too hard in training and ended up with a stress fracture is knowledge of your body that you forever hold. The fact that you gave up your wellness regimen in favor of a new promotion and watched yourself gain weight is an understanding of your limits that you can use moving forward.

These lessons of what has worked and not worked for your health, in the past, are some of the greatest bits of information you can utilize to develop a plan moving forward. Because at the end of the day, you are always the same you. All bodies have idiosyncrasies that take time to learn about, such as what practices calm your mind most, what foods you feel best eating and what types of movement serve your body best. Reflect on what has been effective in your past and consider how you can implement similar protocols in the new year. Keep in mind that there are plenty of wellness trends that may not be right for your body. Consider what has and has not worked for you. 

So what if you approached 2018 with the mentality of “New Year, Same You”? What knowledge would you tap into to inform your goal setting and game plan for the new year? Avoid the tactics that have not delivered results in the past and try things that correlate with previous improvements. They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, so let’s stay sane this year.

Own your journey to better health by recognizing that this “same you” is sitting on a wealth of knowledge about your body. You just have to tap into it.

Here are your action steps:

1. Write down your main health goal for 2018.
2. Reflect on whether you have worked to achieve this goal before. If so, write down all the things you have previously tried to achieve that goal. If not, think of the most closely related goal you have worked toward before, and do this same exercise.
3. Next to each previously attempted tactic write down whether it had a positive (+), negative (-) or neutral (/) impact on achieving your goal.
4. Then dig a little deeper and next to each +, – or / write a note about WHY you think that result occurred.
5. Look at your list and circle any key words or thoughts that you want to keep in mind when planning to achieve your goal in 2018.
6. If you already have a plan in mind, consider if it aligns with all the phrases you just circled. If you don’t have a plan, consider who you can tap into as a resource to gain some knowledge on options to achieve your goal. Work to align all your circled phrases with your chosen tactic.
7. Put your plan into action and regularly remind yourself of how your knowledge of the past can influence your actions of the future.

Cheers to knowing that it’s a new year and you’re the same you!