Techniques for Keeping Your New Year Resolutions: Part One

We all start the New Year with the best of intentions by making resolutions, but as the year winds down we often experience difficulties sticking to them. During the next three weeks I am going to share with you three techniques I used during my swim across the Atlantic Ocean that helped me stay focused and motivated and these techniques can be used to help you stick with your resolutions.

The first technique is called “dissociation”. The principle is to separate your mind from your body. The mind is being transported in a vivid imaginary world while the body is on automatic pilot and keeps on exercising. It is just like day dreaming.

Here is how I applied this technique when I swam across the Atlantic. At the time I had never been to New York City, so I started imagining how it would look and feel to be there. I visualized the buildings and the people I would be passing by on the sidewalks with great detail. I would smell the car exhaust and the perfume of people that just passed by me. I would feel the sun warming up the skin of my face. I would hear the noise of the heavy traffic and the sound of fading sirens in the back ground. I would savor the aftertaste of the coffee I had for breakfast. I would feel my pants rubbing against my legs as I took each step. I would feel the pressure of the asphalt under my feet. Not long after I started experiencing my imaginary world through my senses, my mind dissociated itself from my body. My mind lived in an exciting imaginary world as my sore body exercised in a real and hostile world.

Like with anything else practice makes perfect and it took me awhile to master this technique. The key is to engage all your senses and every inch of your body into this exercise and it will yield amazing results.