Spring into Action: Achieve Your Goals

Five Tips to Refresh Your Life this Spring

March 20th marks the first day of spring. Spring is a season of new beginnings and renewal. Many of us use spring to give our lives a refresh. Whether you’re looking to do some spring cleaning or make a significant change, we have tips for you to give your life a refresh:

1. Establish positive habits

Spring is a great time to spruce up our lives with positive change. Dr. Messina and Associates implore us to establish positive routines, such as “journaling, meditation, movement, and mindfulness,” which provide us with “increased patience, greater self-awareness, reduced stress and positive perspective.” Here’s how to practice the routines above:

• Journaling: Set a timer and journal for five minutes before bed every night to reflect on your day. Write about the positives and the negatives, what you want to achieve tomorrow and how you’ll achieve it. 
• Meditation: Take five minutes every morning to meditate. Start by clearing your mind and then focus on your breathing. Don’t worry if you become distracted; simply work on bringing yourself back to a clear mind and think about your breathing.
• Movement: Get up occasionally throughout the day to get your blood flowing. Try walking around the block or your office to encourage yourself to stay active.
• Mindfulness: Take some time during the day to focus on your thoughts. Allow your thoughts to flow and work towards having relaxing, positive thoughts and affirmations. A great time to practice mindfulness is when you have a few minutes to yourself, such as driving to work or showering.

2. Vanquish negativity

Spring is all about being out with the old and in with the new. So, while decluttering everything else, try decluttering your thoughts by vanquishing negativity. McLean Hospital suggests trying these four steps to stop negative thoughts: “pause a moment, notice the difference, label your thoughts and choose your intention.” Here’s an example of how to use these four steps to vanquish negative thoughts:

• Pause a moment: When you are having negative thoughts, feeling down or stressed, stop and ground yourself. Use the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique by finding five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste.
• Notice the difference: Acknowledge how you felt when you were experiencing negative thoughts and stress compared to how you felt after being grounded.
• Label your thoughts: Start by putting an overall label on your thoughts. Are they sad thoughts? Angry thoughts? Then dive deeper into those thoughts by asking questions like: Am I frustrated? Am I annoyed? This will help you understand where your thoughts stem from.
• Choose your intention: Simply choose what your next steps will be. Will you take a few moments to relax? Is there an action you need to take? Choosing how you react to your thoughts encourages you to act intentionally and proactively. 

3. Get outside and get moving.

With the weather changing and the sun up longer, spring is a great time to get outdoors. According to Business Insider, spending time outside or using ‘nature therapy’ decreases mental fatigue and stress and increases focus and creativity. Here are a few fun things to try outside this spring:

• Go hiking.
• Have a picnic. 
• Walk the dog.
• Have a family day at the park.
• Start a garden.

4. Try something new

Whether it is the freshness of blooming plants or the changing weather, something is exciting about the newness of spring. The same can be said for trying new ventures. North Vancouver Recreation and Culture Commission proposes that getting out of your comfort zone can benefit you by improving “memory, mood and motivation,” increasing “adaptability and agility to acquire new skills,” “overcoming fears and discovering new talents,” and “flexing and fulfilling your potential.” Here are a few new things to try this spring:

• Make a new recipe.
• Try a restaurant you’ve never been to.
• Learn a new skill.
• Try your hand at a new hobby. 
• Go somewhere you’ve never been–even if it’s just a drive a few towns over.

5. Reflect on your year.

Spring offers us the perfect time to restart our goals without the pressure we feel around new year’s resolutions. But before we jump to resuming the same goals, we should evaluate how our year is going so far to ensure our goals align with where we want to go. Cristina Morero advises reflecting on your year to help identify what went well, learn from mistakes, get ideas and gain perspective. Ask yourself the following to determine your upcoming goals:

• What went well these past 12 weeks? 
• What didn’t work out these past 12 weeks?
• What made me the happiest these past 12 weeks?
• What brought me stress and negativity these past 12 weeks?
• What can I change for a better spring?
• What can I keep the same for a better spring?