Why I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions yet still create lasting change

A letter from BurgerFit CEO, Alane Boyd

With it being the beginning of the year, I’ve been thinking a lot about life changes and New Year’s Resolutions. The start to a new year always feels refreshing and I love looking forward to all the new adventures and memories I will be making with my little family. Last year changed in so many ways for me and I had to make a lot of new decisions that I would never have thought would ever be on my plate. I’m not even necessarily referring to the changes that COVID brought to our lives. Right before that hit the States, I started having auto-immune episodes again that I hadn’t had in years (you’ll read more about that below). I had to make changes in my personal life and in BurgerFit to protect myself from chronic sickness. Do you know what I didn’t do at the beginning of this year? Make any New Year’s Resolutions. I can honestly say that there has never been a New Year’s Resolution that I have stuck with. For me, they have been superficial and pointless and have just left me feeling disappointed in myself that I couldn’t keep to it. If you have been successful in sticking to one, I am impressed! Not setting myself up for failure has been a huge shift in my own expectations for myself and letting go of NYR’s have been part of that. But just because I haven’t held to any New Year’s Resolutions, doesn’t mean I have never made a positive change in my life that has stuck! I have had many and I wanted to share a few of them with you because it is a reminder that it doesn’t matter what day of the year it is, it is the perfect day to make a change.

My Non-New Year’s Resolutions:

• December 4, 2012, I decided to figure out ways to make weight loss sustainable for a lifetime. I have kept off 40 pounds since then, brought my blood pressure to a healthy level, and have never looked back. 

• May 15, 2018, I left the company my husband and I had built for 10 years after being acquired by another company. I had turned into my worst self: depressed, angry, exhausted. That was the person my young son saw every day and I was ashamed. It was scary to leave my former company, but after several months of taking a break, I found myself again and launched BurgerFit. Now my son gets to see the best version of myself every day and gets to be a part of it with me!

• February 16, 2020, I made the decision to stop pushing myself so hard. I learned that stress was literally killing me worse than weight ever did. I suffered from severe eczema (you can see the breakouts on my hands and arms in many of my TV appearances) and an auto-immune disease, Angioedema (Warning: I’ve linked to the photo here because they can be hard to look at). Both of these, I learned, were due to chronic stress. While I still don’t know how to completely relax, I have learned to slow down, rely on others, and communicate with my husband when I need something. I have not had an Angioedmema episode since and my eczema has almost completely healed, all with zero medication. That was almost a year ago and it has been the best year of my life.

• October 26, 2020, I deleted Facebook from my phone. I found myself mindlessly scrolling out of habit and it was absorbing more and more time, time that I do not have! I also found that the information I was absorbing was just making me disgusted with people. I did it as a test to see what it would be like without it and life got that much better. I go on my desktop maybe a couple of times a week and quickly check what I need, then close the browser. ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS I’VE EVER MADE (and yet wasn’t considered one of my New Year’s Resolutions)! 

If you made New Year’s Resolutions and you have already given up on them, f*ck it. They never last! That doesn’t mean all hope is lost. Instead of some kind of 180 change, what is one small change that you could make to help you get to your goal? The three that I listed before took several steps before getting to my end result and all of them were rooted in my own survival for health and happiness. Yours don’t have to be as deep but know that you can start taking steps today that will make a lasting change! 

If you aren’t sure where to start, here are some ideas: 

1. Make meals at home and carry healthy snacks with you when you go out, even before leaving to run errands, go to meetings, or traveling so you aren’t having to pick up fast food when hunger strikes.
2. Aim for a little bit of movement each day. Start with something simple like stretching or yoga. Even 10 minutes a day can make a difference! Put a yoga mat in the room you hang out in most so it is always close by and easy to pull out.
3. Find more time for yourself by deleting Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc from your phone. Seriously, it will change your life. I promise, there is nothing you will miss and you only gain time and contentment from it!

What small steps are you taking to better your life? Send me a message, and let me know! We need each other to stay accountable and motivated to become the best versions of ourselves.

XOXO,

Alane