Is 2014 your “year of action”? Are you ready to “redefine success” and “do it”…self-care lessons learned from the State of the Union Speech.

As January starts to wind down, most people are to the point of either still “making it” or more likely “breaking it” with their new year’s resolutions. It’s the nature of the beast—change is not likely to happen overnight. Motivation shifts like a pendulum back and forth between both extremes and most people are left heading towards the indulgences of February’s Valentine’s Day with the optimism of a healthy new year quickly

fading into the distance. Have we already accepted defeat and are going to wait around until we have

to get into a swimsuit during the summer months to “restart” our health priorities?

President Obama, yesterday in his State of the Union speech, declared 2014 “a year of action”. White House aides are talking up how the president is “redefining success” based not on what can get through Congress, but on what actions he can take on his own. The Republican response from Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash, said that “We hope the president will join us in a year of real action, by empowering people…” Shouts of “do it” rang out from members of the audience during the speech.

Outside of politics, what does this mean for you and me and our goals of bettering our health, well-being, and success in life? It’s the reminder that motivation, optimism, and the drive to make changes doesn’t have to be limited to the first of the year. Even if our motivation is weak in one moment, all it takes is the next moment for us to start anew. “Do it”. “Redefine what success means to you” in the very next moment. That is how we can make 2014 “a year of action” for ourselves.

Borrowing from the toolbox of strategies we use with our clients in achieving behavior change and as further discussed in our book, “Having Your All”, momentum is something that can be far more important that momentary success. What

good is it to move two steps forward toward your goals only to fall 2-3 steps back when things don’t go according to your intentions. It takes far less time and physical and emotional energy to move forwards with baby steps or with periodic pauses than with big swings forwards and back. It might just be wiser to maintain where you are at for a period of time until life and your motivation cooperates to take you forward again. Redefine success to not be perfection-focused, but rather toward making the best choices possible in every given moment. That is feeling empowered and is the meaningful and doable focus you want to make 2014 your year of action!