It’s January 2023. Happy New Year! Traditionally many people now decide to follow their New Year’s resolutions, but they often fail to achieve what they want after only a few weeks.
If you want to make better New Year’s resolutions, then hypnotherapy can help you to achieve your goals.
So let’s explore this further.
What is a New Year’s resolution?
A New Year’s resolution is like a promise to ourselves to do better or achieve something. It is inspired by a new year, a new beginning and letting go of the old ways of the past.
For many people in the UK, it can mean looking forward to the changing seasons, warmer weather and a sense of motivation to move out of the cold, dark winter months and on to the lighter summer months.
What things do people want to change?
There are two things people want to change.
Firstly, it’s about themselves. They want to be someone; they want to feel differently towards things and other people. These are emotional desires and improvements. For example, people want to become more confident, feel happier and be satisfied with life.
These emotional wants are often more difficult to achieve on your own as to feel happier is different for different people and is difficult to measure. Furthermore, there may be an underlying medical condition, such as depression, that is making you feel that way, so you are always advised to have a health check if you are feeling low.
Hypnotherapy can help emotional blocks through positive suggestions, sometimes getting to the cause and helping clients relax and see things from a different perspective. Hypnotherapy can help you overcome stress and anxiety if this is bothering you.
Secondly, people want to complete a task or improve their performance. It could be improving a sport, losing weight, stopping smoking, getting a better job, moving house, learning a new skill etc. The list is almost endless.
Hypnotherapy can also help people who want to change by achieving these tasks. For example, through support and positive suggestions, clients can be helped to stop smoking with one or two sessions of hypnotherapy. A common New Year’s resolution at this time is to lose weight after eating too much rich food at Christmas. With willpower and lifestyle changes, hypnotherapy can help people to lose weight.
Why New Year’s resolutions may not work
We will probably all agree that anything to improve yourself and your life is good, but many people fail to achieve their goals. Why is this?
One reason is that we decide to make changes when we are unprepared, it isn’t the right time, we don’t understand what is involved, or we don’t see the benefits of change. Many people contemplate changing something but don’t. But then January starts, and they think they should now start, but it may not be the right time.
Big changes need preparation. If you are not prepared, any pressures to set a New Year’s resolution and start the process can trigger further anxiety as you feel that you ‘should’ be able to do it.
Understanding change
Changing can be scary and feel like a difficult process.
Several change models help us to understand the stages of change.
I like Lewin’s management change model as its simple and can be applied in many different circumstances.
Lewin states that we go through three stages of change.
Firstly we need to imagine a block of ice. This is like you are stuck doing the same things. You look the same and do the same.
Then imagine that when the temperature is right, the ice will start to change and turn to water. At this stage, you start to change. This is that feeling of uncertainty when you start to get unstuck.
The final part of this model is the refreeze. This is when you look different and behave in a different way, so you have changed. The process can be slow or fast, depending on your situation and the support you can get.
The second model of change I like is the Transtheoretical model of change by Prochaska and Di Clemente. This is a more complex behavioural model. It states that we go through stages of thinking about change, taking action, and then maintaining it.
The model consists of the following stages.
- Precontemplation
- Contemplation
- Preparation
- Action
- Maintenance
But all change to achieve your New Year resolutions requires your motivation and understanding of why you want to change.
Some people might call this a cost-benefit analysis when you get motivated by the benefits you will gain from making the change.
Hypnotherapy can help you feel motivated and visualise all the benefits of change. It can also help you to tackle any barriers to change.
Are you curious now about how hypnotherapy can help you?
If you need help making a change and you are serious about it, contact me for a free initial consultation. A convenient online service will enable you to contact me anywhere in the world. Let’s make 2023 better!
