By WIN Contributor: Dr. Nicholas Slowinski, Chiropractor

With the start of 2017 you may look back and wonder what you could have improved on last year?  Maybe you want to try something new, or even improve on something that you’ve been doing for a while.   In any case, resolutions made for a new year can be a tricky thing.  Its been said that most people give up on there resolution within 15 days of January first! That is hardly enough time to make any new practice a habit…this particularly becomes troublesome when someone’s new year resolution involves a positive health change such as eating better, quitting smoking or exercising.  It can be very challenging and often frustrating at times when people decide to challenge themselves and feel as though they may fall short of their goals.

If this sounds familiar to you, rest assured your not alone!  First of all, remind yourself that just as health care is a continuous cycle of ups and downs, so is personal growth!  Change is hard, and it takes courage to take on a challenge and step outside of your comfort zone.  However stepping outside of ones comfort zone is an important thing for everyone and this is where personal growth occurs.  So it is time to change the lens we see our goals through.  Although we may all benefit from stepping outside our comfort zones, taking on new challenges and achieving our goals, where we should really measure our success is in the process leading up these goals.

Tweet This Dr. Nick Health Tip: “Change is hard, and it takes courage to take on a challenge and step outside of your comfort zone.  However… this is where personal growth occurs.”  Via @WIN4health

For example, a while ago I decided to challenge myself and run my first charity 5km race.  Now, I should preface this by stating that there are numerous health benefits associated with recreational running, and competitive distance runners are phenomenal athletic specimens without a doubt!  I just could never truly appreciate recreational running, after all no one was chasing me so why would I ever want to run 5km, 10km, 20km etc when I could just go lift weights.  Running was ok when it was a part of other sports, but by itself, I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. This all changed for me last January when I finally registered for the race.

I needed to develop a way to stay focused on training for the race, and I didn’t have many resources to help me train for the race, such as the excellent running clinic offered by WIN Health Solutions Niagara…which I probably should have attended. Training for the race was a struggle!  Finally through conversation a colleague reminded me that my goal should not be to focus on the race, but on improvement each day/week leading up to the race.

Lasting Change: Focus on the improvements made each day or week rather than the end goal

With this mentality I began to enjoy the activity much more then before. It even reached the point where I looked forward to running as part of my regular routine, something I never thought would happen in a million years!  On race day not only was I prepared for the run, but also excited to take on the challenge rather then dreading what was to come.

The point here is it wasn’t the goal that helped me improve myself, but the process of stepping outside my comfort zone and changing my focus that allowed me to have personal growth.  It is this thinking that helped me achieve one of my goals for the previous year.

So I challenge all of you to change the way you think, step outside of your comfort zone, enjoy the process and grow in regards to what ever your new years resolution might be.  As always, if you need any guidance on the steps to take to make change, or help along the way don’t hesitate to visit the excellent providers at WIN Health Solutions Niagara. Together we can keep you moving in the right direction!  On behalf of the WIN Health Team, we wish you all a very safe and happy new year!