Make 2022 The Year You Go for It!

SunKiss Life - January Edition

Welcome to the SunKiss Life Blog, a monthly round-up celebrating inspiring stories from our online lifestyle magazine, SunKiss Life.

Warm welcome to new beginnings and adventures with SunKiss!

Now's the perfect time to explore new inspiration for the year ahead. Is there something great you've always wanted to do, but fear has held you back?

A handful of seeds can grow into a joyful harvest. And even a single insight can unfold to transform your life in profound ways.

There's always hope for positive change - regardless of what's going on in the world around you. I hope you'll find inspiration in these stories to make 2022 the year you seize the opportunity to be the person you want to be, and the change you want to see in the world.

Photo by Allef Vinicius, Unsplash

The Magic Happens Outside Your Comfort Zone

The “comfort zone” is a dependable place of retreat, especially in times of stress – living through a global pandemic, for instance. But your comfort zone can, become a trap, particularly if you are there because of fear.

Psychologists have long praised the benefits of stepping outside it. Facing your fears can increase confidence and self-esteem, and achieving a goal is associated with a release of dopamine, the feel-good hormone. When you become aware of what you can do there’s a domino effect when you start to feel better about yourself, become more willing to take positive risks and have more energy to do the things you want to do.

If you are ready to expand your comfort zone, consider breaking down the uncomfortable action into steps and celebrate the little wins that give you a boost of confidence and energy, which keeps it exciting. Try something “small or bold” outside your comfort zone each day, building confidence so that stretching your comfort zone becomes easier and easier.

Get comfortable with the idea, when trying something new, that failure is possible – or rather, don’t view it as failure. The reality is, outside our comfort zone, why would we know how to do it?

Thinking about what advice you would give to someone else switches your perspective and helps you think more rationally about the situation. Consciously changing the way, you think about a situation by turning a fear into a challenge can also help to overcome it.

This means that, if you are ready to step outside your comfort zone – or rather broaden it – you can start right now! Learn more about how to step out of your comfort zone from #theguardian.

Unfollow Your "One True Passion" to Stay Motivated

If you can see how trying new things can be energizing, shouldn’t you be focusing on finding your one true passion to live happily ever after?

People are often told to find their passion, as though passions and interests are pre-formed and must simply be discovered. This idea, however, is a fairy tale you were told many times over and it has hidden motivational implications.

Research shows that believing you’re meant to do something may undermine your ability to grow, evolve, and discover new and potentially fulfilling interests - or give up on them altogether.

Here are some ways you can explore a growth mindset around your interests to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket:

Don’t marry one passion; date around and give yourself the chance to develop a range of interests, even the ones that surprise you.

Redefine talent. Chances are that your genius won’t reveal itself like a hole in one on your first day of golf. And if you believe talent, like passion, is fixed, you may not put in the time it takes to cultivate it.

Beware of the urge to monetize everything. These days, you can’t bake a great cake without someone telling you to open a shop. Sing a beautiful song and you’ll be encouraged to audition for the X-Factor. This pressure to turn everything you like into a paid engagement may seem like success, but it can be counterproductive.

“Motivation is a result, not a precondition. Only progress, can provide lasting motivation.”

This is good news, because it means the development of your passions, your interests, and your life, start with you.

And the best part? There’s no predicting how great it can be! Learn more about why you should unfollow your passion with #mindbodygreen.

What About Those Delayed Milestones?

Following on from finding the elusive one true passion, there’s also a sort-of unspoken, but widely acknowledged, life path we’re all expected to follow – but none of our journeys are the same. Here, we’re exploring the mental health impact of deviating from the predicted life milestones course, and how to best handle it.

Whether you’re sad to be single while all your friends are getting engaged or approaching a big birthday without landing that high-flying career, missing a perceived milestone deadline can be a potent cocktail of disappointment, frustration, and inadequacy.

The pressure to keep up with others may be driving our desire to have it all, but is it ever possible to make peace with being 20 paces behind where you want to be? With a willingness to see things differently, and consciously address your fears, it can be done. Here’s how …

1. It can be easy to get wrapped up in what everyone else is doing, but have you ever stopped to think about all that you have accomplished? Celebrate what you have already achieved!

2. When you feel as though you’re falling short, do your best to remember that it’s who you are that matters, not what you have.

3. Try practicing gratitude to recognise your blessings, as well as your progress and fill any gaps with what’s missing with interests and new skills. These activities build your self-esteem, self-worth, and confidence.

4. When sifting through difficult emotions, it might be time to get some additional support. You may well discover that your friend’s life is not all that rose-tinted either.

Finally, a big pat on the back for you, for finishing this feature and facing your delayed milestones head on!

Photo by Jeremy Bishop, Unsplash

Make 2022 The Year You Go for It!

You're ready to step out of your comfort zone, embrace a growth mindset, and celebrate your achievements ... but how do you get that New Year’s resolution to stick?

Setting resolutions often feels like a pointless exercise — something we do at the beginning of each year only to then feel guilty by February. The pandemic has only made the practice feel more helpless. Why even attempt to set resolutions when you have no idea what will transpire in the coming months?

Before you give up on making resolutions, know that setting an intention for yourself is still a good idea and consider these six practical tips on how to make your resolutions actually stick.

1. The first and most important step is to assess your willingness to make a change - and make sure that you have a compelling reason to do so.

2. Pick just one or two - It’s easier to remember and implement when you focus on one resolution or at least limit it to one area of progress.

3. Translate your resolution into a practical action you can put into your calendar. Choosing in advance what actions will align with your new year’s resolutions and when you will complete them makes it simpler for them to stick.

4. Follow the path of least resistance to make your new habits easy to keep up.

5. In the swirl of life, it’s easy to lose commitment if you don’t track your progress. Record the actions related to your resolutions daily.

6. Get support! In those moments when you just don’t want to make the right choices, knowing that someone else is aware and will care can really help.

There is always hope for positive change. This year you can seize the opportunity to do the actions that help you become the person who you want to be — regardless of what is going on in the world around you. Learn more about how to make your New Year’s Resolution stick with #hbr.

In the meantime, we wish you the best of luck with your new ventures! Share your journey with us for some loving support from the SunKiss community, we love to hear from you!

🌻 #SunKissLife