(NewsNation) — Want to stick to your New Year’s resolutions? A life coach who focuses on managing the nervous system has some ideas.
“Most of us are trying to will our way towards the things that we’re wanting or think the wishful thinking is enough. But the truth is, our autonomic nervous system is actually what’s responsible for our ability to actualize the life we are desiring or not,” Sarah Baldwin, a somatic experiencing practitioner, told NewsNation on Thursday.
Practically speaking, she says, some goals people set for themselves carry risks, and the nervous system may steer a person toward avoiding them.
“What we have to do is focus on befriending our nervous system, to work with it, instead of battling against it. We begin to show our nervous system that the life that we’re wanting is actually safe for us,” Baldwin said. “This is the work that we all must do in order to step into the next iteration of the things that we’re wanting.”
So, how does someone make that happen? Baldwin says an individual must begin taking “tolerable steps” toward their goal.
“We know we’re on to something if I’m noticing I can complete this thing. It didn’t feel good, but what happens is that gets stored in our internal database, and our nervous system starts to see, ‘Oh, maybe the life I want is safe for me,’” she said.
Three in 10 Americans say they make at least one New Year’s resolution, Pew Research Center reported in a 2024 survey. Most respondents said their resolutions were about health, while others made resolutions about money or finances, personal relationships and other goals.
