I love a fresh start in January. During the first few days, I brew a strong cup of coffee and reflect on the past year: what lessons I learnt, what lessons I may need to learn again.

How much time did I spend truly happy? Did I spend my time wishing I did more?

After reflecting on the person I became over the last year, I then decide on a theme for my upcoming year. How can I become a better me over the next 12 months?

Sometimes we set ourselves up for failure by building lists of resolutions that are too big. We want our “new us” overnight, and when it doesn’t happen, we give up. I am just as guilty of this as the next person. I want to see my transformation right away, but the thing with transformations is that they happen so subtly that you don’t even see them happening.

This year, I decided my resolution was to live more in the moment.

I have one client who made last year her year. She decided that she was tired of resolutions that didn’t stick. When she came in, she had set herself huge goals that were not impossible, but were definitely overwhelming. When we sat down, we set bite-size goals that we could reach one month at a time. A year later, she has kept up her healthy lifestyle while still being able to live her life.

She is able to go out without fearing meals and she actually looks forward to the gym.

Instead of looking forward to all the things she wasn’t achieving, she learnt to fall in love with the process. She decided to live in the moment.

We can all dwell on what we aren’t doing, but we will just end up busy instead of productive.

When we stop beating ourselves up for not achieving, we will realise that the right now is pretty incredible. The transformation is always happening. It isn’t always physical. Not every day will be easy, but if you let go of expecting results a.s.a.p., I promise you that next January you will be proud of the person you have transformed into.

•Cassandra Matcham is a Yoga Alliance-certified yoga instructor, studio and group fitness manager at Alchemy Fitness. She specialises in accountability and goal-setting to help clients reach their full potential. Follow Alchemy Fitness on Facebook: AlchemyFitnessBermuda or e-mail info@alchemy.bm.