Drink eight glasses of water a day.
Make your bed when you get up.
Take your vitamins.
Take your prescribed medications.
Eat three healthy meals.
Snack healthy between meals.
Take a time-out.
Floss your teeth every day.
Sweep your floors.
Exercise for 30 minutes each day.
Sleep eight hours a night.
Do a ten-second tidy of your home.
Declutter your home once space at a time.
Read every day.
Pick up after yourself.
Learn something new every day.
And on and on it goes!
How do we keep up? It’s no wonder that we get overwhelmed with making and keeping our New Year’s resolutions. So don’t. Just stop. Subtract instead. Yes, take away what you no longer need, want, love, care to do, enjoy, or value. Pay attention to what you want in each moment. Do you want that third coffee this morning, or has it become a reflex? Do you want to call or text that person right now, or are you doing so out of obligation? Do you love that item you’re keeping that’s taking up your physical–and mental–real estate?
Often we go through life living in the shadow of someone else’s story about us. We act and respond a certain way and do what we always do—on auto-pilot. What about not doing the expected? A recent conversation between family members would typically have me not only weighing in but offering to help because I tend to people-please. But I only audited the discussion, and they resolved their issue. Not jumping in to help is new for me. It’s a new year. It’s a new subtraction!
What can you subtract as you begin 2020?
Abacus photo courtesy of Crissy Jarvis on Unsplash @ https://unsplash.com/@crissyjarvis