Happy New Year from The Deglutenizer!

Happy New Year!

Happy new year! Forewarning: I am one of those “new year, new me” types. No, not like the memes. I’ve always found it difficult to adopt new habits during the year when I’m just trying to live my day-to-day life. My best shot at developing and sticking with new regimens until they truly become habit is during the symbolic period of renewal and change that is the first few weeks of the year.

My first rule of writing resolutions is to keep it positive. I can’t just dismiss a bad habit, I have to replace it with a better habit. So my new year resolutions aren’t negative like “lose weight” or “stop drinking soda,” but are the positive inverse. Statements like, “start exercising with [specific workout plan],” and, “drink tea rather than Coke,” are historically more successful.

My second rule for resolutions is to make several small, specific resolutions. So “lose weight” would be altered to several small steps for weight loss, each with its own resolution for the new year. For instance:

Exercise each weekday morning with a DDPYOGA workout
Drink only water, tea, or homemade juices or smoothies
Eat breakfast every morning
Enjoy unhealthy foods or alcohol in moderation, maximum 3x per week
Get sugars from healthier options like fruit or dark chocolate

After several weeks of applying lots of small changes, I’ll get into the habit of regularly practicing these tasks and will discover that I’ve made a lifestyle change. Not every change will become a habit. But I always hope enough will that I’ll see some progress throughout the year and retain some of the changes until it’s time to make new resolutions for the next year.

I also use resolutions to take up new habits for self-improvement. We’ve all read articles and seen videos about the habits of famous CEOs and successful people. I feel like I should adopt several of these habits and incorporate them into my own lifestyle. So here are my resolutions for 2018:

Plan every hour of my week Sunday evening

I got one of those hourly planners that shows quarter-hours from 8a-8p. Every Sunday evening, I’m going to plan the week ahead down to the last detail, even when I need to post on social media. I’m also going to make Mom sit with me at the dining table and do the same so our plans stop clashing.

DDPYOGA

This past year, I started baking to sell gluten-free products at area green markets. At least 4 days a week, I’ve been standing at least 10 hours each day on hard surfaces like tile and asphalt. Not only are my feet in constant agony, but for the first time in my life, I have back pain. When I practice DDPYOGA regularly, my pain dissipates. So it’s time to make it a habit and banish my pain. And no, I’m not being paid to recommend this program to anyone. I’m just saying that it works when I use it, and I hurt when I don’t use it.

Get a job cooking in a restaurant

I want to launch a restaurant consultation service soon developing gluten-free and allergy-friendly menus and staff training programs for local restaurants. I’ve mastered the art of innovating delicious gluten-free recipes. However, I need first-hand experience of how kitchen staff are currently trained in handling food allergens in a commercial kitchen so I can develop my own training methodology. Also, I kind of miss getting a regular paycheck. This entrepreneurial life is a struggle.

Generate blog content Mondays, post it all Tuesday

I promised to do this last month, and I should have known better. December is always my worst month for accomplishing anything besides just surviving holidays. Now that there’s no major holidays until Valentine’s Day, I can refocus my attention on the blog. So Mondays are for writing and recording video clips, and Tuesdays are for editing video and uploading all the finished content.

Wake up at 5am every day

I’m going to ease into this one, starting by waking up at 6am each day this week, then bumping it to 5:40 each day next week and so on. Lots of successful people wake up long before the sun rises and knock out a huge portion of their day before they officially start their work day. They work out, eat breakfast with their families, answer emails, all before they start their regular work schedules.

…and more!

Get two new contacts each day for my LegalShield side hustle
Make money on my blog from sponsored posts and YouTube ad revenue
Relocate to Orlando before the end of the year (fall?)
Eat breakfast each morning after DDPYOGA
Do 5-8 lessons in Spanish on Duolingo each day
Practice guitar 3x per week
Connect with every gluten-free group in South and Central Florida
Turn off all bright lights and screens each night at 9pm
Get hair trimmed every three months to maintain hair condition for Wigs for Kids donation
Deep clean 1 room OR tidy several areas each night, 7-8:30

Obviously, some of these resolutions indicate that big changes are coming. I’m not sure yet how things are going to play out in the end once I develop these new habits, but hopefully these experiences are transformative and lead to better health, wealth, and happiness.

I hope you all have a very happy new year and that your 2018 is amazing! Please leave your thoughts in a comment below, or get in touch with me directly by filling out the form on the contact page.

Support my GoFundMe to launch my restaurant consultation service!
https://www.gofundme.com/Deglutenizer-Consultation