5 Small Ways to Make Big Changes in the New Year

The biggest changes happen over time. Not everything needs to change overnight. You don’t need to do an entire life overhaul to start new. The New Year is often a time when we take a look back at the year we had and ask ourselves how we can get better.

We have five great tips on how to make small changes that can pave the way for big results:

1. Organize your space. An organized environment leads to an organized mind, and it also sets a clear stage for any change that needs to happen to flow easier. Clean out your closet, your living space, that attic you’ve wanted to clear out and donate clothes, shoes, and anything else you can find that may be useful to someone else.
2. Organize your kitchen. If you have a new eating regimen you want to try, a clean kitchen is the most inspirational place to cook. As you’re cleaning, set aside canned and dried goods to donate to a food bank, they would appreciate the goods this time of year.
3. Create vision boards. Yes, multiple. Create a vision board for each quarter. Where do you see yourself in three months? And what small daily changes can you make to get there? Then, create another one with where you see yourself in three months from that point, and so on. A vision board doesn’t need to be you with the dream life you’ve always wanted. If three months is too far out, you can do a vision board for each month. Hang them or keep them in a space where you can see them daily to remind yourself of your goals.
4. Eliminate one thing from your diet for 14-days and see how you feel. Write out the foods that you want to eat less of. If your list says “coffee, gluten, dairy, sugar, and chips at night,” start with the one that will be the easiest for you to cut out and do that for 14 days. If you feel great, either continue for another 14 days and then look over your list and address another food, or try to eliminate another food every 14 days. Rome wasn’t built in one day, and lifestyle changes are not made overnight.
5. Practice patience and self-compassion. Go into making incremental lifestyle changes from a place of self-love and not out of wanting to be a different person. You are whole and healthy just the way you are. Look at these small habits you are forming as a chance to optimize the health you already have. When you start from a loving place, it makes the process smoother and go even faster.

We hope these were helpful. We are wishing you a fantastic new year!

– Dr. Horowitz & Staff