Happy Lunar New Year {and a New Way to Look at Resolutions}

By: Leah Shannon, FullWell

Kung Hei Fat Choy! Today is the Chinese Lunar New Year and this year ushers in a very exciting Year of the Dragon.

I grew up celebrating Chinese New Year with a visit to our favorite Chinese restaurant and with eating a traditional sticky rice cake. YUM. What I love about this day is that after 2 weeks of celebration, this day is traditionally celebrated with a cleansing meal consisting only of vegetables. What better way to usher in the new year?

But the other thing that this reminds me of is the fact that most people fail in their New Year’s resolutions in only a few short days or weeks. Why is that? There are many reasons but one of the prevailing thoughts is the “too much” or “too many.” We tend to pile on a lot of expectations on what is really quite an arbitrary day. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal shows that we overload ourselves with too many goals and a similar article in The Guardian shows that we set a high goal — without thinking of the victories of intermediate steps (too much).

There is such great truth in this and I follow this when I personally set goals (not only during the new year) and when I work with clients. We all have a lot of things we want to accomplish. I try to narrow it down to a manageable (very) few. And then with these specific goals, I further divide them down in small steps — milestones, victories. Then I do it (not talk about it – see my other post on why that is not good).

Finally, most of us descend into despair when we perceive ourselves as failing when we have setbacks, mainly because we have chosen a start date and had such high hopes. But January 1 is arbitrary (as evidenced by the very exciting Chinese New Year that comes weeks later!). New Year is actually celebrated on different dates in different cultures — and if you’re Kuchi, as late as June!

So if you like auspicious dates as anchors for your goals — then you have a lot to choose from!

Bottom line is:

1. Start with a few goals

2. Divide each goal into steps, milestones, small victories (and celebrate them)

3. Do it (don’t talk about it)

4. Setbacks are par for the course, get ready, reset and go!

Leah Lizarondo Shannon is an Integrative Nutrition Counselor and Food Educator. She founded FullWell and works with the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine as a Food for Life instructor. More information at www.befullwell.com