What are you doing on New Year’s Eve? Make a date with a mindset.

When the clock strikes midnight many of us will make a toast, kiss someone we love, and make a resolution to do (or stop doing) something in the new year. These resolutions to eat better, save more money, call home more often, and make time for self-care are made with the best of intentions, but are they the best way to make a change? Read on, the answer might surprise you!

According to a recent Forbes article, 80% of those who set resolutions will fail within 30 days, but don’t let that discourage you. This may have more to do with resolutions themselves, than your ability to choose and attain a goal. Reframing your resolution into a mindset could make all the difference in the world!

Gayle Hilgendorff, the author of Live More, Work Better: A Practical Guide to a Balanced Life, defines a resolution as “a firm decision to do or not do something” and a mindset as “an established set of attitudes.” By these definitions, resolutions are absolute, and absolutes are easy to break. Mindsets result in an approach that values progress more than perfection. With this outlook, we’re more likely to continue toward our goals and reach them in the long run.

Sound like a plan? Good!

Follow the steps below and we’ll help you develop a mindset to adopt during the new year. Whatever you choose, we’ll be rooting for you every step of the way.

Step 1: Find the topic of our new mindset

You can’t adopt a new mindset if you don’t know what that mindset is about. The good news here is that you probably have some idea of what you’d like to change in the new year, but you’ve just not put it into words yet. So take out a piece of paper and make a quick list (don’t overthink this) of everything you’d like to start (or stop) in the coming year.

• Here’s an example:

  • Relax more

  • Make time for me

  • Take care of my body

  • Improve my health

  • Do more of what I enjoy

  • Increase my strength and flexibility so I can play with the kids more easily

  • Feel happier

  • Buy less

  • Meditate more

  • Surround myself with healthy, happy people

  • Focus on my life outside my job

When you start to feel yourself running out of meaningful ideas, it’s time to stop.

Step 2: Choose and define your mindset goals

Take a moment and review your list. Mark out any items that feel less important--or beneficial to you--than others. Circle the items that feel important to you.

As you review your list, you may notice that some things on your list are actions (Relax more) and some are the results of actions (Feel happier). Consider focusing more on things phrased as actions and pairing the result with them, for example: Relax more to feel happier.

Pick one or two of your favorites and move on to step 3. For the sake of example, let’s choose the goal of "improving our physical and mental health."

Step 3: Set SMART goals and practice forgiveness

It’s time to take your mindset goals and turn them into specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) for optimum success. You may have heard about SMART goals at work, school, or even at your gym, and there’s a reason for that: they work!

SPECIFIC: State what you want and be as clear and precise as possible. The clearer your vision is, the easier it will be to keep your eye on the ball.

• The example "improve our physical and mental health" isn’t quite specific enough yet. You can just imagine yourself on the first of January wondering where to start. Instead, make it more specific, for example, use the goal “adopt one behavior, therapeutic massage, that will improve your physical and mental health.”

MEASURABLE: Find a way to measure your progress. It can be as specific as weighing yourself daily or as subjective as keeping a mood tracker in your planner. It’s the best and most reliable way to give yourself the transparency you need to make sure you are taking effective steps towards your goal.

• In the example goal, we’ve specified “one” behavior, but that goal is met the moment you take the behavior on. Let’s go a bit further and adjust the goal so it can be measured throughout the year. Let’s try the goal “adopt one bi-weekly behavior, therapeutic massage, that will improve your physical and mental health.” This is easily tracked: you can measure whether or not you do this one thing every other week.

ACHIEVABLE: Ask yourself how realistic your goals are. Are there insurmountable roadblocks between you and your goal? If so, make adjustments. It could mean the difference between a goal abandoned and a goal achieved!

• Your goal should feel achievable to you. You can book and attend one therapeutic massage every other week. You can even take advantage of membership programs to make your massage sessions more affordable and easy to book!

RELEVANT: Is this goal meaningful to you or is it something that society, or someone else in your life, wants you to do? If it isn’t meaningful to you, you may find it hard to stay motivated. Irrelevant goals tend to be among the first to fall by the wayside.

• At Elements Massage® studios, we believe that nothing is more important than our physical and mental health: it makes everything else in our lives possible! We witness the incredible power of massage first-hand every day, so this goal feels very relevant to us!

TIME-BOUND: Set a due date for your goal. Without one, your goal could wind up on the back burner and never find its way back to your priorities list.

• In the spirit of New Years’ Resolutions, give yourself a due date of bi-weekly for one year. If your goal is cumulative, you might want to think in terms of the date your goal will be accomplished. That may or may not be at the end of the year.

Practice Forgiveness

Even the smartest of goals can run into trouble now and then. In the world of resolutions, missteps and mistakes can equal failure. In the progress-not-perfection world of mindset, forgiving yourself is key to success. Simply acknowledge the setback, make adjustments where necessary, and get back on track. Need to make an adjustment to your goal? No problem! Attaining an adjusted goal is better than abandoning your goal altogether.

• For you, that means that missing a massage now and then doesn’t have to undermine your goal. You can reschedule for another day, or simply dedicate yourself to making the next appointment.

Starting the new year with a planned new mindset could be the best thing you do for yourself in 2022! Whatever your goal, know that Elements Massage studios are here to support you every step of the way. Whether it’s customizing a massage to prepare your body to meet your goal, or giving you a relaxing experience that calms your nerves and refreshes your mind, know that professional massage therapists are here to support you! The best part of this plan: you don’t need to wait for the new year to start benefiting from therapeutic massage. You can book your appointment today!