Rewire your brain for a happy 2018

It’s the third week of January and I am only just starting to feel ready for another year.  As I mentioned in my blog before Christmas, just because the date turns over to 1 January it doesn’t mean you wake up, instantly reenergized and ready for the New Year. In fact, I felt no different. I was still tired, still overweight, still anxious and still ruminating about all the same stuff that was haunting me in 2017. That is, until I decided it was time to rewire my brain and adjust my thinking.

I listened to my internal chatter and all I heard was negative stuff

“It’s going be so hard to shift that extra 7kg Claire. You are going to hate doing it and life will be such a drag.

“You have to go back to work Claire and keep orgainsing those same events you have done for the past five years. It’s going to be boring it but it has to be done, we need the money.”

“And what about the 700 books you still have get rid of. You have had them for two years now so I can’t see how 2018 is going be any different!”

When I stopped and really listened to my internal dialogue I was horrified. How could I refer to my beautiful happy book as “getting rid of”. What sort of message was I sending out into the universe! Everything in my head was heavy and constricting. No wonder I was feeling tired, lethargic and despondent about the New Year.

Thankfully I have brightened up considerably after a good chat to myself. It’s so easy to be negative. In fact it takes very little conscious energy to be negative. Once you get caught in the negativity web it’s so hard to get out of it, but it can be done if your rewire your brain. Happiness is a choice and it requires hard work, action and determination.

Rewire your brain

So this what I did to rewire my brain and change my thinking to make a better start to 2018:

I am no longer ‘getting rid’ of my books instead I am devising ways of ‘sharing them’ with the world. Now doesn’t that sound lighter and more enticing?

I am committed to shedding my extra 7kg because I value my health and wellbeing.

Both my husband Paul and I are on the journey together. It’s so much easier when you are supporting each other. We have a plan of action and so far we are doing great. It takes time and patience but we are prepared to dig in for the long haul.

I have to share something with you

We were both on holidays until Mon 8 January and of course you can’t start a new eating plan unless it’s a Monday! So we pegged Monday 8 Jan as the magical kick off date. On the weekend before that date you would have thought we were about to enter the desert without any food for months. We stuffed every available treat into our mouths and every time we did it we justified it with “it’s ok we are starting our diet on Monday.” I can’t believe we did that. It’s amazing how powerful the mind is. Now that I have been eating so well for 10 days I couldn’t go back to eating what I did on that weekend.

I am also back at work and trying to focus on the things that are positive about my work. My three day weeks, the gorgeous people I work with, the flexibility and the wonderful work life balance I have.

My life is great

I feel so blessed to live where I am, to have the family and friends that I have, to have enough money to live a pleasant life and to share my happiness with you.

Instead of thinking that 2018 is going to be filled with the same old boring stuff, I have rewired my brain and changed my thinking. You never know what is around the corner, it could be the most exciting and wonderful year yet.

Now isn’t that a better way to approach it!

How can you rewire your brain to make 2018 a happier year?

Be happy, colour the world.

Claire

PS I have commenced a new project this year called Project Happy Rock. It’s just another way of sending a ripple of happiness into the world. Click here if you want to read more about it.