Estimated Reading Time 5 Minutes
Hey you! Welcome back to the Vibrant Life Podcast. I’m Emily Romrell and it’s a great day to be alive. I don’t have any big news to share with you since the last podcast. I’ve just been pushing onward and upward to live the dream like everyone else. But lately, the simple joys in everyday living have been more meaningful than ever: Little moments connecting with family and friends, the small heart pangs I get from looking at the flowers on my table, or the snow on the trees. These are the things that make life magical and it’s important to recognize them.
Just a quick heads up, if you like the podcast so far, I’d love your support in the form of a review on iTunes or Spotify. You can click on the links in the show notes. It doesn’t take long and I really appreciate your effort.
Okay, today we are talking about choosing a personal theme for the year. I purposefully waited until the middle of February for this one peeps, and there are a couple of different reasons why.
First of all, if you are like me, it’s easy to get hung up on the timing for new goals. There have been too many times in my own life that I’ve told myself I would start at the beginning of next month, or on Monday when the new week starts. There is nothing wrong with that, but I want to stress that you can pick yourself back up, or start fresh now. Why wait?
Secondly, we are a month and a half into the new year. This is about the time that a lot of the momentum and excitement is fizzling down and it’s easy to give up. It takes a lot of work to change our habits and if you’re like me, this is about the time when old patterns start to resurface. That’s okay. It’s important that you don’t beat yourself up if you slid back a bit in your journey to the new you. The key is to be mindful about it so you can course correct.
I want to share something with you that has had a huge impact on the way I think about both my personal shortcomings and personal growth. I may do a more in-depth podcast about this in the future, so right now I’ll just give you a brief rundown on the Cycle of Change. This model was originally developed by Prochaska & DiClemente in 1983 and I learned about it in counseling. You can view and download a chart of the Cycle of Change in the show notes.
Precontemplation: A logical starting point for the model, where there is no intention of changing behavior; the person may be unaware that a problem exists.
Contemplation: The person becomes aware that there is a problem, but has made no commitment to change.
Preparation: The person is intent on taking action to correct the problem; usually requires buy-in from the client (i.e. the client is convinced that the
change is good) and increased self-efficacy (i.e. the client believes s/he
can make change).
Action: The person is in active modification of behavior.
Maintenance: Sustained change occurs and new behavior(s) replaces old ones. Per this model, this stage is also transitional.
Relapse: The person falls back into old patterns of behavior.
Upward Spiral: Each time a person goes through the cycle, they learn from each relapse and (hopefully) grow stronger so that relapse is shorter or less devastating.
The two steps I want to focus on today are the Relapse and the Upward Spiral. Once I realized that relapses and setbacks were okay and an expected part of the process of change, I gained a lot more compassion for myself. And the image of an upward spiral is personally uplifting for me. I am aware that I am a work in progress and I don’t have to be perfect all at once. Also, the image of the Upward Spiral is like a spring in my head and mentally it’s easier for me to “bounce back” when I make mistakes.
So now that we understand that change is a process and it’s okay if it’s the end of February and our New Years Goals may or may not be floundering a bit; let’s talk about the power of themes.
I’m a big believer in the power of symbols, themes, and mantras. When you anchor your thoughts and beliefs, you can tap into the unlimited potential and power of your higher self. Our brains like patterns and consistency and our attention creates our reality. It can be really meaningful to set a personal focus for a set amount of time.
A few years ago, my brother ended up in the hospital with a mysterious virus in his leg. The doctors were somewhat baffled but determined it to be a MRSA skin infection. My brother eventually recovered and is doing fine, but this experience was a catalyst for him to adopt a healthier lifestyle. He decided that the following year was his Year of Health, and he would concentrate major effort toward that goal. His work paid off and he is more fit and healthy now than I ever remember him being. But it didn’t stop there. He has consistently chosen a new theme each year and the transformation in his life is inspiring. My brother Shane is truly a light for me and I am so grateful for his example and friendship in my life.
I have also had a personal theme for the last few years. Two years ago I had weight loss surgery and decided it was my year of the Warrior. I decided to truly battle my demons and let go of the physical weight, but also a lot of the emotional and mental weight as well. I bought a bracelet that I wore virtually every day. When things got tough, I would literally touch the word and dig deep for my warrior within. Looking back now, I feel like a completely different person to who I was then.
Last year my theme was choosing Faith over Fear, and let me tell you my commitment to that was tested in 2020. Not only did I have personal struggles, but the whole world seemed to be in panic mode over Covid 19, civil unrest, and many other setbacks. But my personal theme of Faith over Fear helped me to trust in a loving Heavenly Father even when everything seemed out of control.
This year my theme is Self-Love. I want to believe in my abilities and accept myself for who I am. This is a real struggle for me, but I’m working on it. I definitely have more compassion for myself than previously on my journey in life. I am working on transforming that compassion into true love. I keep reminding myself that it’s a process like we talked about before and I keep climbing that upward spiral.
The idea of choosing a personal theme is not new, but it is powerful. If you haven’t done so yet for 2021, it’s not too late. You can choose now to become a better version of yourself. You don’t have to be perfect. You will make mistakes We all do. But if you make the effort, a couple of years down the road you might not even recognize yourself. The time will pass whatever choice you make. I believe in you. Live the Vibrant Life!
