As we start another new year we humans tend to make a lot of promises to ourselves. Ones that often involve shedding a few pounds, working out, committing to a diet or a new health ritual. We make promises to ourselves and I think it’s great, I really do. Self-improvement, fresh goals, changes and starting over are paramount to growth. But I always have to ask, What’s inside of those promises? What’s the why or the reason? Is it rooted in the heart or in the ego? In service of vanity or a real, long lasting change? Real change comes from the root and grows. Desire comes from the surface and fades fast. There are no quick fixes to long lasting changes. And long lasting changes may take more work, but they are a sweet victory and totally possible. Possible, not perfect.

To get to the root of your why and reasons for new goals and change, I recommend thinking about your lifestyle, how you want to feel, why you want to feel better in 2024 and for whom you want to feel this way. When we make changes from a place of commitment and consistency; when the reasons are bigger than ourselves, we have a much higher likelihood of succeeding and maintaining the D word. Discipline, people, discipline. A word I was once very afraid of has now become a sweet synonym to love and loving myself.

When we take a stand to find our why and commit to our well being, we also say no to excessive living, fads and diet culture because the work is deeper than that. We find something more deep within. Conscious living means saying hello to the heart, to simplicity, to examining our lives and habits a little more closely and experiencing intuition - in life and food.

Our mind has an incredible amount of ability. It is the powerhouse with which we make everyday choices, that which makes breathing possible and allows us to reason. Sadly, our mind is constantly being challenged by the treadmill of life if we allow it to be that way. It’s safe to say that with constant connection, emails, texts, dings and dongs - the pace of our worlds is ever steadily increasing day by day. Many of us have automated responses and reactions to just about every part of our lives. AKA, we’re living on autopilot and it’s not helping our decision making, the connections we have to ourselves, others or to our health.

AUTOPILOT (noun): Something done automatically, without much self-awareness
Here are 3 places where you might be on autopilot and not even realize it:
1. Language: How we talk to ourselves and how we talk to others.
*think about language habits: self-deprecation, not saying please and thank you, over apologizing, gossiping
2. Thoughts: What we think of ourselves + others.
*think about thought patterns: holding negative thoughts about a friend, family member or co-worker, fearful to make a decision, rumination
3. Reactions + Actions: How we feel about time, what we say, do and give to ourselves and others
*think about how you’re acting: tone of voice, rushing, multi-tasking, the way we spend our time - ie: commuting, constant social media, not responding to people you love, shutting down and isolating yourself

Language, thoughts, reactions and actions are what I call the energy we can’t see, but that which we can feel. Faltering in these 3 areas can make it exceptionally hard to get healthy, stay healthy and make long lasting changes. So while you take a moment to think about your why’s and reasons this 2024, take a look at the below and start reimagining how you can reframe your relationship to yourself; time, boundaries, choices, the language you use toward yourself and developing a lil more self-kindness.

Read these 4 Tips to Grow + Live More Consciously This Year

Transform Your Relationship with Time: Think about the week ahead and your commitments. Get organized + make a plan to feel better. Use a calendar, or a notebook to honestly log a day in your life and see where you may be able to fit in some of the below energy boosting (and quite stress reducing) feel-goodness.

Tina Tip: I know time can be an issue for all of us, but it’s also the way we frame it in our minds: “I don’t have enough time” or “There aren’t enough hours in the day.” We’re busy and overextended, I feel you. But please do take a moment to ask yourself: what’s a day in my life like? Am I using my time wisely or wasting time on social media when I can be going for a walk, doing something creative or connecting to someone I love.

Create Boundaries: Reflect on relationships in your life that exhaust you more than invigorate you. Notice where you can gently set some boundaries. Being bound by obligation zaps the energy and health right out of us.

Tina Tip: It’s ok to say No. I promise. You can do it with elegance and grace. Honesty also always feels good and it looks good on you.

Simplify: This goes back to boundaries and prioritizing. Simply recognize that you do not have to do it all. A mom hat, a manager hat, a wife hat, a daughter hat. You’re one person, one. Pick and choose your priorities and know it’s more than ok for them to shift and be in flux. Write them down and hold yourself accountable for what would like to do and what you do not want to do. Week to week. Do you have to clean EVERY SINGLE SATURDAY MORNING? Does the birthday cake NEED to be baked from scratch? Does Johnny’s Halloween costume have to be handmade? Can you use a grocery delivery service to manage your shopping list? Are there places in your life where you can simplify? Think about it ...

Tina Tip: No one is perfect. And there’s no perfect way of living, eating and being. It’s what works for all of us as individuals; and that can change from week to week. As much as I love to grocery shop, cook, clean, do my own laundry and pack my lunch every day, see my girlfriends, go to yoga, try and date - some weeks it’s impossible. Ok, it is impossible to do it all and feel good. Giving myself the license to simplify has been freeing. Focusing on one thing at a time is freeing.

Watch Your Mouth and Manners: Repeating negative words to yourself and about others takes away natural energy and our ability to open up and spread goodness. Notice the things you say. Notice how you say them too. Reframing and using positive language can change your thoughts and increase your energy in big ways. No one likes gossip, jealousy or putting others down. It only makes us more vulnerable and can make it really hard for us to like ourselves when we speak this way.

Tina Tip: I struggled for a long time with the words I used, particularly in reference to myself, my body and what I thought I wasn’t enough of. Being in a constant state of not enough was exhausting. Making peace with my mind + body came through changing my own voice. Talk to yourself with kindness. It’s a lot less tiring, believe me. Remind yourself you can do anything. That you’re capable and powerful beyond belief.

Build a Self-Care/Self-Trust/Self-Kindness Routine: The more YOU become a priority and trust your own needs, the greater the likelihood that things will begin falling into place. When you take care of yourself - in the smallest way - energy increases because you begin feeling like you can conquer the world - and you can. This is more than rubbing yourself in oils and taking a bath. This is about looking inward, doing hard things and building trust with yourself.

Tina Tip: Do something solo. Carve out time just for you: go for a walk, sit and read, go to a movie alone, a meal, listen to music, wake up 15 minutes earlier to have a cup of coffee and quiet (before the kids or your partner wake up). Make it a practice to embrace being alone for a moment and schedule a date with yourself to do it. It’s not only energizing, but empowering. And then we can make decisions and choices from a place of feeling powerful, not weak.

Happy New Year: 4 Tips to Grow + Live More Consciously This Year