As the countdown begins to 2022, I’m sure you have your new year’s resolution(s) lined up to fire on 1 January 2022. Surely, like me, you have a great collection of new year’s resolutions that have never been achieved. But why don’t they work?
We’re caught up in the festive spirit and there may even be pressure to utter a resolution or 2 at the festivities. But once we hit reality beyond January 2022 they fizzle out like sparklers on new years eve.
New year’s resolutions are life plans for our individual futures. And plans need strategies and the right mindset. Yes, on 31 December and 1 January our resolutions are drunk with the infectious can-do spirit of festive cheer.
But once reality sets in with work, back to school and life in general, we get sucked back into our pre-31 December realities. Sound familiar? Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not aspiring to be the messenger of doom here, I just don’t want you stuck in this spiral any longer.
HOW TO GET NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS TO WORK THEN?
Well, you have step 1 covered with that resolution. But there are 5 other aspects that are critical to make your goal a lasting reality.
✅ 1. THE RIGHT MINDSET: This is probably the most important aspect of the change you want to put in place. How you see yourself and your experiences in the world, has a direct impact on your outcomes. It’s not just about reciting mantra’s and affirmations every day, but really tuning your mind to what you want as opposed to staying focused on what you don’t want.
✅ 2. MOTIVATION DRIVEN BY YOUR “WHY”: When you know what’s important to you, I mean really know what’s important and why you want to reach your goal, it keeps you flying to reach that goal. Read more in this article.
✅ 3. INSIGHT INTO SELF-LIMITING BELIEFS HOLDING YOU BACK: Now this is the little bugger that messes things up a lot. Although we are fired up with our goal, we truly know why we want to reach it, our support structure’s all set, but that negative self-talking inner-critic is always on duty, we might as well stash that goal away. To create lasting change we need to uncover the blockages so we can rewire/reframe them. This is where the mindset shift comes in. Read more in this article.
✅ 4. AN ACTIONABLE PLAN: by breaking your main goal down into a series of milestones with linked actions, you work incrementally to get you to the next milestone. Breaking your goal down into manageable chunks helps you achieve smaller goals consistently, stay motivated and focused. In this article I explain the process more and you can download a goal-setting action plan to get going.
✅ 5 AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER (support structure): I don’t have to say much here. We all know how important it is to have someone in your corner. Whether it’s a family member, a dear friend or even a life coach, this is the juice that keeps your goal machine ticking from 1 milestone to the next.
Click here to view a summary of the articles referenced above.
THE TAKEAWAY
New Year’s resolutions in their traditional form don’t work. I hope it has become clear to you that to create lasting change, there is much more work to do. Go on, make your new year’s resolutions, but do it differently this year. It becomes a life plan and not just something reserved for 31 December every year.
I would love to hear how you are changing things up for yourself with your goals.
