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Happy New Year! It’s 2021, and we are looking forward to the new-year-new-me mentality. Flipping the calendar to January represents so many possibilities! Our goals include health, fitness, nutrition, career, and so much more.
Setting intentions
The new year is a helpful reset button; one in which we can create new intentions, in our minds, for the next 365 days (+1 during a leap year!). This sometimes even starts to happen at the end of the previous year, spilling into the new. What were some of the things we were happy with in the old year? Where did we excel? Where could we have done better? What goals remain unaccomplished, and what did you check off of your to-do list? Setting intentions for the new year can include old goals you haven’t seen come to fruition, but it’s also an opportunity to piggyback off of the areas you have grown and evolved in; an opportunity to take yourself to the next level. At the same time, we have to be careful with setting our intentions. Being reasonable and realistic with your intentions gives you a better chance at actually making things happen.
Creating realistic goals and resolutions
We tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves when the calendar approaches the new calendar year; pressure to be the bigger and better version of ourselves — Me 2.0 — right away! Give yourself some time. You don’t have to pile the expectations up for yourself — that becomes overwhelming. Why not think about your goals and resolutions in a more realistic way? Try making a list of the goals you’d like to accomplish, this year, and then divide them into manageable bits. For instance, if you are looking to eat better, exercise more, and read more books, you can start by choosing a couple of days a week where you make them veggies-only days, and do that for a couple of weeks. Once that becomes a habit, and enjoyable, you can increase the amount of days, and you’ll be well on your way. At the same time, you can give yourself time to wean off of the previous year, and declare the middle of the month the time when you will get into an exercise routine. Maybe start the first week with meditation, visualization, taking it up to light stretches and walking in the next. As each week approaches, plan fun ways in which you will increase your movements, and, in turn, your routine. To read more, attack that in small increments, as well. Do you feel that a book a week is too much? Start with reading one chapter a day. Still too much for your schedule? Make it one chapter a week! There are so many ways you can create realistic goals for yourself...ones that actually stick.
The beauty of a new year is having another chance to get your mind right for another year, another cycle. You get another chance to manifest the dreams and goals you hold in your heart, in your mind, in your vision.
Speaking of a new year, new you, we connected with wellness and fitness enthusiast Alicia Winding, and she shared her 2020-versus-2021 mindset. Let’s dive in to see how she’s applying what she learned in 2020, to this year — we think you’ll be inspired!
Alicia wears Island Splash (left) and Island Sunrise (right).
What are you manifesting for the new year?
This year, I’m manifesting continued peace and love within myself, gratitude, focus, and a love that I can share through a new relationship.
How did you go about setting your goals and intentions for the new year?
I have a manifestation journal where I tend to write out my actionable goals.
What are you excited about in 2021?
Opportunity and change. In 2020, I learned to embrace those two things, so much so, that I’ve found comfort in them, and the fact that change creates opportunity.
What was the biggest goal you achieved, last year?
The biggest goal I achieved, last year, was consistency with my workouts, meditations, a new job, self-awareness, and inner peace. Since 2020 was such a unique year, the material goals I originally set became less of a focus, and I looked more into myself and my personal development.
What is your morning routine?
I usually get up around 6am or 6:30am to meditate and workout in my neighborhood. I often stop by a neighborhood coffee shop before heading home to shower, and indulge in my morning skincare routine by 8am, before signing on for work at 9am.
How do you overcome self-doubt and negative self-talk?
I simply don’t entertain it. However, if I do feel some negative vibes coming on, I sit still for a moment and try to understand why I’d see things this way. I then shift my perspective and speak the positivity out of the negativity, and focus on that.
LIGHTNING ROUND:
Fruits or Veggies - I’d eat fruits all day, if I could!
Ice Cream or Crepes - Ice cream, for sure.
Coffee Black or With Creamer - Just a splash of creamer.
Cupcakes or Macarons - Cupcakes :-)
Planks or Press-Ups - Planks.
Skiing or Snowboarding - Skiing.
Sex and the City or Friends - Sex and the City.
Leggings or Sweats - Both! :-)
Alicia Winding is a Sales Director for a small rewards-based advertising company, fluid artist, and owner of Apothecary AO, a home goods and skincare boutique. She has been on a fitness journey since 2018, and in 2020, took her dedication to fitness up a notch by focusing on daily resistance-band workouts, meditation, and mindfulness. Instagram: @alwaysaliciaxoxo