From Intentions to Impact: Building a Sustainable Resolve for the New Year
New Year is a time of contemplation, sometimes existential curiosity and recalibration for most people. While it’s true that the new year in itself is not much more than the turn of a calendar page on a random Tuesday, but it is also true that the shift in so many things around us does bring a momentum we can ride on to take initiative on the tasks we’ve been pushing to the bottom of our to-do lists. It is a good time to take advantage of the momentum of change and set things into motion in the direction we want our next 365 days to take.
Once we set our actions into momentum, the next task is to sustain and pace them. A mindset where you recognize that a lifestyle that is aligned on intentional living is not a sprint, instead it is a marathon. There is a good chance that you already have plenty of lifestyle habits that you have successfully sustained in your life that you ought to take pride in; but perhaps you do not give yourself enough credit for it. Think about the habits that stabilize you when the pressure gets to you. Habits you reach for when things get hazy in your mind.
If you are still reading this blog, there’s a good chance you already have done tremendously well in your life in many ways, but you haven’t spent time putting your “ways” into concrete steps and applied it to other areas of life; hence have had to start from scratch with doubt tinting your thoughts with ‘I don’t know if I’ll get it right this time’. Think about these habits and list at least three of those. That’s your reference point to begin stacking your learning into a system.
To build a sustainable resolve, you have to eliminate some of that false doubt out of your thought process. Roll up your sleeves, we are about to get real SMART and Scientific with it.
What: Spend some time refining what really bothers you about your lifestyle right now as empirically as possible. Example: “Lack of good quality 7-8 hours sleep is causing problems of fatigue, irritable mood and lack of focus”.
Why: As humans we won’t stick to any action unless it is serving a purpose in our life; even the actions we see as problematic carry a meaning. Your “why” doesn’t have to be complex or philosophical. In fact, the simpler and straightforward it is, the better. Identify what purpose will making this change achieve in your life? Example: “developing an efficient and structured bedtime routine will improve sleep duration and quality to 6-8 hours per night”.
How: Another nugget about the human mind is that it learns and adapts in the most healthy manner when it feels safe and joyous. This means we really need two things to come up with a “how” for ourselves. First is a framework which is reliable and efficient so our energy is not wasted, and second is to ensure we have fun along the way! SMART framework helps us construct a map for ourselves beforehand, so when we follow the map, we can improvise and enjoy the process without fear that we will lose our way. Thus, change becomes creative play where we have trust in the stability and safety of the grounds we play in.
Example: Change specifically looks like sleeping for 5.5 to 7 hours daily following a short bedtime routine: i) avoid screens 1 hour before bedtime, ii) engage in relaxation techniques (breathing, meditation or stretching exercise), and iii) gratitude journaling. Measured by tracking bedtime; track sleep duration using a sleep app for 30 days; noting any disruptions and logging sleep patterns. Achievable by adjusting bedtime by 15 minutes weekly until consistent and adjusting the choice of relaxation exercises that are helpful and feel natural until consistent. Improved sleep quality has relevance to overall physical and emotional health and productivity and can be established in one month’s time.
Such a system gives you control as well as responsibility to take informed action in your life, and maintain curiosity about the outcome as opposed to a judgment towards it. The more you experience safety in taking action, the more confident you will feel in doing it again, and ultimately the more resolve you will have in your direction in life. As finite beings with finite resources, our systems make us efficient in following our dreams and fulfilling our goals day after day; and the joy we create in this process keeps us agile enough to bend when needed, so we don’t break, and to stay grounded in our purpose.
Written by Shamyle Rizwan Khan - Mental Health Counselor at Sakeenah Canada.
About Sakeenah
Sakeenah Canada, a national charitable organization, was founded in 2018 in response to a gap in culturally and religiously sensitive services available for women and children facing domestic violence and homelessness. Since then, our services have expanded to include mental health therapy and counseling. Sakeenah has also started The People’s Market, a food program that helps combat food insecurity, and has become the first licensed foster care agency for Muslim children in all of North America. We currently operate 8 transitional homes across Canada: Toronto, Brampton, Milton, London, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Regina, in addition to the first long-term housing program for Muslim women and children in Canada, in Windsor.
