Hi, I'm Maryon Stewart B.E.M, a world-renowned healthcare expert and pioneer of The Natural Menopause Movement. I am delighted to sit on Become's panel of experts.

So many of us make New Year’s resolutions, but come February or March, those hopes and dreams for the year have often fallen by the wayside. Life gets in the way, we get tempted off the path, or we simply get too busy and forget what we resolved to change or achieve. This is made even harder when we are going through the menopause, especially if we are experiencing symptoms such as memory loss, foggy brain and finding it hard to concentrate. Sometimes it’s enough just to get through the day. But we shouldn’t let menopause get in the way of having goals and dreams.  

Focusing on your goals

We have multiple choices in life. We can either drift through, from week to week, going where life takes us or we can focus on what we would really like to achieve in our life, and work out how to manifest that goal or dream. Over the years, I’ve worked out my own system to help me not only create the resolutions, but to name my goals and dreams for the year, which can be especially useful if we are finding it hard to focus.

Whether it’s learning how to balance our emotions and reclaiming our wellbeing at the time of menopause, getting promoted at work, starting a new career, moving to a new house, learning a new skill, helping others or giving ourselves a physical challenge, we need to decide on the goal and get a clear view of it, otherwise, how will we know when we have arrived at our destination?

Research shows that being proactive and focusing on a named goal can really help to increase our self-esteem and happiness. It’s almost as if we are holding ourselves accountable and what happens in our life isn’t just left to chance. Plus, it’s so satisfying to look back at the end of each year to review which of your goals and objectives you actually achieved.

Daring to dream

Since 2003, I’ve made a practice of writing a new set of goals for the year by the 1st of January, then saving them onto my computer. I call them ‘goals’, but they’re actually my biggest heartfelt dreams for the year – for my family, my career and myself. It’s almost a process of tuning into my calling and making detailed and focused notes about the steps I would walk during my journey for the coming year.

Reviewing my annual lists, as I have today, I feel both proud and humble to have helped so many women overcome their perimenopause and menopause symptoms naturally and achieved some of my own personal goals. It helps me to live a satisfying life – the life of my dreams. And you can too, if you spend thoughtful time planning out what you actually want to paint on your canvas this New Year. Spend some quality time daring to dream. You will be amazed how much difference this makes to you, not only emotionally, but physically too. It helps to keep the endorphins (those feelgood hormones) floating around your system, keeping your mood buoyant and your mind sharp.

Whilst I don’t achieve everything I set out to do each year, this activity gives me a strong sense of direction and a great sense of purpose. Even if I’ve been over ambitious (which I’m famous for), trying to achieve more than is possible in the timeframe, I know I can roll some of the goals over to the next year, if that’s still what I want to do. And I love to check in periodically to review my list throughout the year, to see which of the goals I can tick off and remind myself of what still needs to be achieved.

As it seems to have been such a successful action in my own life, I thought I would share my method, like one of my recipes, so that you can use it to make your dreams and emotional wellbeing a reality in 2019 without having to read yet another self-help book.


My recipe for success

1. Imagine that you have a large blank canvas and that you are able to paint it just the way you want. Don’t filter the ideas that come into your mind, or listen to negative voices that are bound to tell you it’s impossible. Just let the ideas flow and commit them to words and pictures.
2. Take some time out to dream about what you would like to put on your blank canvas and how you would like it to look when it’s finished. This process could take several hours or could be done over a number of days.
3. Meditate on what you ideally would like to achieve in your personal, family and spiritual life, then write outline notes.
4. Repeat step 3 with what you would like to achieve in your work life.
5. If you are spiritually minded, ask the Universe to guide your goal-setting before you go to sleep. Make sure it's on a night when you have some clear time the next morning.
6. When you wake, in your fresh state, review your notes and turn them into a firm plan.
7. When you feel happy with the end result, either save it as a Word document or file it away somewhere accessible, so that you can review it each month to make sure you are on track.
8. Celebrate! It always feels a great achievement to me when the goals that I’m in love with have been set for the year. Mark the completion of the first phase of the process by treating yourself to something special, be it time for yourself, a wonderful walk in nature, watching a good movie or having dinner with a like-minded friend or your partner to share your new plans.
9. Make a collage filled with pictures and words to capture your goals and gaze at it daily to begin to live the life of your dreams. If you haven’t done this before, you will find the book Visioning, Ten Steps to Designing the Life of Your Dreams by Dr. Lucia Capacchionne a most useful tool.

I’m focusing on exciting new goals and projects this year that will help millions of women around the world to reclaim their wellbeing. I’ll continue to share my story with you in the coming weeks and months. I’d also love to receive feedback about how you get on with the process and how it is helping you through the menopause. Let me know any magical happenings that result and I’ll keep you posted about mine.

Wishing you a happy, successful and goal-driven 2019.

Maryon Stewart x

We love these inspiring tips. Maryon also has a wealth of information on her website about how you can manage your menopause symptoms naturally. We hope you achieve your hopes and dreams for 2019.