If your New Year’s resolutions are starting to fizzle and lose momentum, life coach Jodi Seery from Live and Love Vibrant encourages you to change your approach.
“When you are trying to use will alone to force change in your life, you eventually power out and become discouraged,” she said. “It takes a tremendous amount of energy to restrain, deny, limit or cajole yourself in an attempt to make change. You end up in a power struggle with yourself, either way you or yourself will lose that struggle.”
Attempting to force yourself to change your behaviour of eating, exercising, spending, communicating or being in relationship with others through self admonishment, criticism, guilt or denial is an attempt to force yourself to change through the use of applied force, otherwise known as stress. This will work for the short term, but it will not lead to lasting change, said Seery.
“Stress engages the fear centre of the brain. A thought like ‘I have to lose 20 pounds to be attractive and loved,’ kicks the fight or flight response on causing a surge of adrenaline that will carry us for a while but eventually will leave us feeling depleted and exhausted, resulting in an end to our will power.”
The first step in creating lasting change and sustainable happiness is to get out of your head and into your body where all emotion exists. Emotion is the fuel that propels change.
“To get the cleanest burning, highest octane emotion fuel we want to be very clear why we want what we are attempting to change. This step is fundamental because often we are chasing one thing when really what we want is something deeper.”
This step also helps us recognize if we are attempting to change ourselves for external reasons like the approval of someone else.
“Our brain is the logic and our body is the emotion and the means by which we physically achieve action. Both need to be engaged to create lasting change but the key is that the body must be the leader of the brain.”
Seery will teach you how to turn your desires into motivation to ignite and create lasting change in a free presentation at the Vernon library on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Seating is limited, registration required. Visit liveandlovevibrant.com/you to register. A live webinar March 26 will be offered for those unable to attend Saturday’s class. Register as above.
