New Year's Resolutions ...it takes 21 days to start a habit!
New Year’s Eve is always such a fun, exuberant time of the year filled with champagne and food, fireworks and loud cheers! But there is usually one dreaded moment before we reach the fateful hour where ‘New Year, new me’, suddenly turns from a great proclamation to a mental “Oh, dear” moments later.
Of course, maybe you didn’t mean to say you were going to test your limits by bungee jumping or learning a new language of a country you’ve visited only a couple of times (once in 1991 and the other in 2007).
We try to stick to our Resolutions, whether that be to go to the gym, save money or to be kinder to an irksome sibling. However, there comes the point in life where fixing all that was old no longer works and perhaps the ‘New Year, new me’ slogan seems much more reasonable than it did before.
So, we at The Chelsea Spa would like to impart this one brilliant piece of information that we hope you can use in 2018: It takes 21 days to start a habit!
Twenty-one days? That’s only three weeks – three Sundays!
Here are some manageable Resolutions that will leave you feeling much better by the time 2019 rolls around:
1. No phone
It’s hard, we know. One of the easiest ways to reduce stress is not to use technology as often as we all have been doing! Although, this is much trickier than we like to think as we use our phones to check emails, take photos, call and text, to do our banking and of course, to Google. We use our mobiles as a calculator, a map, a notepad, a game platform, an alarm clock, a wallet, a teacher, and even as a book. We watch silly videos and hour-long episodes of tv-shows, have our food delivered and buy clothes and essentials just from these tiny devices that have unnatural lighting.
No wonder we have tired eyes!
Not using a phone helps to improve communication and your mental healthy (from seeing the highlight-reels of other people’s lives), so try to use less of your phone in 2018.
2. Walking
A healthy (and economical) alternative to going to the gym is to make sure you walk more often. Instead of taking the bus or a taxi, try and walk to your destination.
Instead of sitting at your desk for lunch at work, walk to the nearest park to eat your food. Thie way you can separate yourself from work for a little while, while also giving yourself a well-deserved breather.
Walking gives you a sense of accomplishment, and you’ll appreciate more things around you now that you have the time to look around.
It beats being a couch potato and also helps to keep you fit, with firmer legs and a toned body!
3. Skin/healthcare
Reducing stress is an enormous benefit to your mental and skincare routine, particularly if you know how to best rid yourself of that headache and the aches and pains of your body.
Tension can make you feel angry or sad and can affect you physically, leaving you with blemishes, sallow skin, and tiredness.
One way you can help improve your mental and physical health is to drink plenty of water.
It is also incredibly restorative to pamper your body from the stresses of the world that can have you feeling exhausted. Perhaps try a 60-minute Deep Tissue Muscle Energiser Massage, a Back, Neck and Shoulder Massage or a Divine Nutrition Facial that repairs your skin through a nourishing 1-hour 15-minute treatment.
Rubbing away your tight muscles will leave you with a happier mentality and feeling fresh, energised and relaxed.
4. Reading
Books, magazines or newspapers; whatever you do in 2018 make sure one of your Resolutions is to read!
Broaden your mind and learn something new by reading and feel that pride swell in your chest when you’ve finished reading a book (particularly one that challenged you)!
If you’re not usually a reader, perhaps you haven’t yet found a genre you enjoy; try reading one book a month in 2018, or at the very least six books a year!
5. Setting targets – writing your to-do list and crossing it off 21 days to create a habit
For January, why not try to write down a To-do list to increase your productivity? Whether it’s to do that dreaded Tax Return or to fix something in the house or to set yourself some reading time, it’s good to start this habit.
It increases your productivity because when you’re always active, your brain starts to manage your day automatically. It also means you feel happier when you have downtime because you feel like you deserve it! It’s a much worthier treat than watching TV at 11 pm and remembering you have work to finish! Eek!
6. Be selfish
One thing we sometimes forget to do is to think about ourselves, and not in a narcissistic way!
On occasion, we find ourselves pulled in directions that we do not wholly get to control, so once in a while, it is nice to take a step back to reflect. Be selfish for you live in your body your entire life, so it is important to think hard about how best you can take care of your future self.
7. Relax
Everybody deserves to have a relaxation period, where you sit back, put up your feet and recharge because life is quick and it can get the best of us sometimes.
Enjoy your downtime by making sure to book not only a holiday but also time to simply stay at home, take a bath and rest your mind.
We hope you enjoy 2018!
The Chelsea Spa – www.thechelseaspa.co.uk
53 Hollywood Road, Chelsea, London
SW10 9HX
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7351 4555
Mobile: +44 (0) 748 453 7735
