Happy New You!

The New Year is almost upon us, which of course means a torrent of social media posts and adverts proclaiming ‘New Year, new you’ goal setting, life changing career moves, ‘outside the box’ personal transformations and a wish list as long as your arm… positive, go getting, focused…

Then you wake up one morning in June (the following year) with that nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten to do something… O yea, all those New Year goals, the ones that tempted you to be ‘better’, only to find yourself more deflated at their nonexistence! So, is it worth it at all? Do you give up New Year goal setting all together and just crack on with hum drum? NO!

That being said, I’m not a huge fan of this 1 second in the year as the clock ticks over midnight, when we must put something into the ‘cauldron’ of New Year’s Eve, snatching at a goal (any goal) that is meant to transform us in the year to follow… I say, why wait?!   

Any day, or night can be a ‘New You’ time! So why not start thinking about it before the New Year is here? Allow yourself the time, space and inspiration to really think about the things in your life or about yourself that you would like to work on, make them specific (and not too many! Don’t overload yourself!), achievable (don’t set yourself up to fail, be kind!), measurable (so you can see progress, and feel good about it!). Make them realistic and timely (things that you can achieve, and within a time frame that feels achievable to maximise the positive impact on your life).

One of the main reasons I don’t get the one point in time goal setting is personal change (physical or otherwise). Change is (by nature) gradual, building, rising and constant. The act of self-evaluation, looking at areas in or on ourselves that we are concerned or unhappy with in some way, something that has continually bugged us, that makes us feel just a little bit ‘urg’ about ourselves. These are things that I imagine haven’t suddenly started to bug you in December, just in time for New Year, but things that have been nagging at you for the entirety of the year just gone.

For example, the slow progression of ageing (completely normal, but just a little annoying when it comes to our skin!), lines and wrinkles that seem to make you look older than you feel (before 9 pm at night of course, let’s not go crazy!) and the loss of facial volume (that somehow makes your face look like an ice cream left in the sun!). So, if we look at our concerns with our skin as being gradual, then let’s approach the goal setting and action in the same way, not everything has to be done on the 1^st January!

If there is something about your face you’ve been contemplating for the past year, looking at in the mirror, reading about, Instagramming, Googling, poking at, stretching and pulling… start slow, start forming your goal with a chat? Discussing your concerns will either make them less of a concern or enable us to formulate a plan to work towards an achievable goal. Not everything needs to be done at once… treatments are done over time, built up, gradual and produce long lasting effect, don’t rush! It doesn’t need to be a burden, we look carefully at cost, and can spread it out, ensuring it’s manageable and doesn’t outweigh the end goal. A successful goal is one that is achieved without overall overload.

So, I wish you all a positive year ahead, one in which you can move forward in whichever direction you wish to go, taking those little steps to achieve the things most important to you… But most importantly I wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YOU!