New Year’s resolutions, what a farce! We wait until the end of December, often wasting an entire year, then make a list of habits we would like to change the following year. The problem is, life gets in the way and nothing changes. We might be able to sustain our new habits for a month or two, but in all reality it’s just a matter of time before we slide right back into the old.
Making Promise to Yourself Over and Over
We’ve all heard stories (or experienced this ourselves) about people gearing up in January to exercise more, lose weight, go on a diet and so on, but by February the new habits are merely a distant memory. Or an “I’ll start again next month”. We’re all trying to achieve long lasting changes, so why can’t we seem to make these changes permanent? We have the best intentions in trying to improve ourselves through our health, education, personal growth and so on.
The Problem with Annual Resolutions
There are a few fundamental problems with this annual merry-go-round. One, we’re in somewhat of an altered state due to the holidays. We’ve spent a lot of time surrounded by family, bellied up to the dinner table, giving and receiving gifts, eating sugar filled treats, consuming our favorite holiday beverages, activities that our minds and bodies aren’t accustomed to week after week. In other words, we’re making plans and setting goals in a totally different state than we’ll be in when we actually have to start working on our goals. We’re back to work, family left town, kids are back in school, we’ve crashed from our sugar induced euphoria, leftovers are gone, and life is back, right smack in the path of our resolutions.
Are We Doing This Right?
Secondly , we buy into the term “new years resolution”. This implies that are goals are only short term to begin with, making it easier in our minds to quit. Third, we rarely set up a support system to keep us accountable day after day. Ask a family member, co-worker, your pastor, a close friend, someone who knows you well enough to motivate you and keep you on the path to your goals with a strong, guiding hand.
Changing the Terms
So what if we called our new goals, “New Life Revolutions?” Would this change how we view them in our conscious and subconscious minds? You bet it would. “New Life Revolutions” implies making long term, lasting changes that become daily habits. These can be the same resolutions we set every year, quit smoking, eat better, exercise more, etc. The only difference is how we go about implementing them. Now I’m not saying that creating new habits this time of year will not work for you. It’s a great time to do it if done right.
Do It Right
First, you need to get away from everything and everybody and retreat to a quiet place, even just for a short period of time. Clear your mind from all the holiday clutter and picture yourself getting “back to life” the first week of January. What does your schedule look like? What things can you do to manage your time more wisely and create extra pockets of time to work on your new habits? Now, take out a pen and paper and begin writing your goals. Write them in a manner that implies “long term, life changing habits”, not “yearly”. Identify where you can prioritize and delegate to free up the time you need to implement your new habits each day. Next, choose a willing support person who understands how important these changes are to you and give them free reign to “coach” you through it until new habits are permanently formed.
And lastly, document your progress. Keep a journal and update it with every task you complete on your journey to establishing new habits. Being able to see how hard you’re working and how much progress you’re making on paper is excellent motivation to keep going.
Don’t forget to celebrate when you make a big improvement, nothing crazy enough to knock you off the wagon, but something that says, “Hey, awesome job, keep up the great work (pat yourself on the back)! That’s it. Now get to work on those New Life Revolutions and make every day, month, year and decade even better than the last.
Don’t give up, you can do this!
To Your Massive Success,
Kyle Wilson
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