Oxygen Australia — January-February 2018

oxygenmagAU Jan/Feb 2018 111

with parties, cocktails, hangovers — and the

scales and tightness of my shorts reflected

my complete failure yet again to achieve my

resolutions. Two months down, Easter on the

way, which quickly rolls into a long, cold winter

filled with comfort food and forgiving layers,

and the never-ending cycle continues.

So what can we do to break this cycle? If

we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll

keep getting what we’ve always got — errr,

nowhere!

These days, I like to look at the New Year as

an opportunity to set some intentions based

around a theme that I choose for the year. After

many years of broken New Year’s promises,

in my mind the term ‘resolution’ now has a

negative attachment to it — as something that I

have set and failed at year after year.

Alternatively, I associate intentions with

good and positive actions and plans that are

more forgiving in their application. Having

an intention in my mind provides me with

positive objectives to work toward and, unlike

a resolution, can’t be ‘broken’. It allows me to

do my best and accept my efforts, flaws and

all, rather than crumbling under the pressure

of perfection that I associate with achieving a

rigid resolution. I can also choose whether that

theme is for the whole year or whether I want

to change it up each month. That’s the best part

of doing it this way — there are no rules and

therefore no failures!

So how do I set my intentions and theme

each year? Well, it definitely helps to align

them with your values and core beliefs,

which will ultimately make them

easier and more enjoyable to

action, as well as be more

authentic to you.

For example, let’s say

you have a core value of

compassion, so you make

that your theme for the

year ahead. How then

do you apply the theme?

You might consider

compassion for yourself,

compassion for people

in your immediate circle,

or even compassion on a

much broader global scale.

Depending on your scope,

an idea might be to get involved

in more community service or charity

work by volunteering for an organisation

in your suburb. Or maybe you could set a goal

to compete in a national charity fundraising

event each month.

You might set a simple intention to be more

compassionate to your family and friends with

your words and actions. But you could also

explore ways to be more compassionate with

yourself. Anything from hiring a PT or joining

a gym to help get you into shape to saving

for a health retreat during the year to setting

an intention to do five minutes of meditative

breathing each day.

Do you get the idea? If you align your theme

with your core values in life, the intentions

will flow much easier and the action plan will

develop organically and authentically.

Once you have your value-based theme,

the final step is to write it down and place it

somewhere that is visible to you first thing

every morning — maybe your bathroom mirror

or in a frame on your bedside table. That way,

one of the first things you see and think about

each day is your theme and how you can

physically action it for the day. Having your

theme top of mind will also help you when you

are facing choices throughout the year ahead.

So what is my theme for 2018? I think I have

settled on this: ‘Be the change’.

This is a theme that most certainly sits

squarely within my core values of authenticity,

community, influence, leadership, and

challenge. I aim, therefore, to make my daily

decisions based around taking actions and

setting goals that support my broader intention

of ‘being the change I wish to see in the world’.

The best way to influence people to change

in some way is to ‘action’ that change yourself.

To be the teacher, the role model, the leader for

the change you wish to see.

Of course, one of my main drivers as a fitness

professional is the ideal of a fitter, healthier,

and happier world with less lifestyle disease

and illness. So ensuring that my daily actions

role model and support that concept of a fit

and healthy lifestyle is one way I can support

this intention. Hopefully, this theme will help

motivate me to get my butt out of bed when I’m

just not ‘feeling it’.

I also love the ideal of a world where women

accept and love themselves for who they are,

what they look like, and what they are capable

of. So my intention will be to teach and show

my daughters and the women in my immediate

circle of influence, through my actions and

words, that they do not need to live up to

anyone else’s idea of perfection and that they

are perfectly imperfect in their own skin.

Other actions such as being authentic,

honest, and real through my social media

pages, taking on more charity events this year,

and a simple one like treating others around

me in a way that supports my vision for a more

peaceful and happy world all fit in nicely with

my intention to ‘be the change’.

I’m sure I’ll find many more ways that I can

champion this theme in 2018, and hopefully I’ll

get the chance to share some of them with the

Oxygen family.

Have a safe, happy, healthy, and amazing

New Year and remember to theme it your

way!

To be honest,
I gave up making
resolutions years
ago when I realised the
futility of the task. So many
Januarys I would make a mental list of things I
would accomplish that year, mostly revolving
around losing weight, drinking less, exercising
more — sound familiar?
Generally, I would experience that first
crushing feeling of defeat by March each year
while I reminisced about the summer filled

THEMES

Not later, now! Be bold!

Be more present

Opposite (do the opposite to what

the ‘old’ me would do) Step into you!

Exploration Gratitude

Master a new skill Random acts

of kindness Authenticity

Take a chance Give back

Learning to love me