It is that time of the year again, when you look back on the past year and make plans for the new coming year. Some already know that they will not be able to go through and deliver their new year resolution, because this may have been the case past few years. Some still make the commitment and succeed. But why is it that so many people are unable to succeed and they drop their new year resolution?
One possible reason is that we do not acknowledge that the resolution brings a change. And this change needs to be managed properly. Here are a few aspects of change you might want to consider in order to stay true to your new year resolution:
- Awareness. Is this change meaningful for me? It is very popular to make new year resolutions and to share them with others. If you are short of ideas, it is easy to go and find some popular resolutions from internet. In reality, we should avoid going with the main stream. You should think, why would you change anything at all? Will my life be better at all if I make this change? The less meaningful the change, the more chance there is to drop it. So, give it a thought, why this change? Why now instead of continuing the way you were? What will happen if you do not make the change? Pick something that really impacts your life.
- Desire. In order to go through and achieve your goal, you need to want it. Plan ahead how you can motivate yourself throughout the journey. For example, a reward not only for the end result, but make up milestones and reward yourself for achieving them. When reaching the milestones, use the opportunity to remind yourself why you started this journey in the first place and assess the impact this milestone has already made on your life.
- Knowledge. Do you know HOW to actually do this? Often people fail because they do not. For example, someone aims to take part on a big marathon. But the person has never ran regularly. So, in January, he starts training himself. But without any knowledge on how to do it properly, he hurts himself and his health fails. The person should have hired a professional trainer to coach him on the journey. Or, another example, a person decides to learn a new language, but her self-learning skills are weak. So it would actually make sense for her to join a group which is instructed by the teacher who is using a good learning system and logic.
- Ability. There are a few more factors that might impact your ability to stay true to your resolution. Think about different resources. Are you physically ready to take on a professional sportsman´s goal? Do you have time to do what you aim to do? A plan could help you here. By creating a time plan, you will understand if you actually have time for this, you can track if you are where you need to be and it creates a good discipline. Consider if you have enough money. This can be a big obstacle if you plan a trip around the world for example. And also, are you emotionally ready? Every change, good or bad, brings stress. For example getting married is usually the happiest day of the life. However, just like any other change, it brings stress. Therefore, before taking on a huge resolution, it is good to think through if you are emotionally positively loaded and equipped to go through with it.
- Reinforcement. Holding up the discipline is quite hard if you feel unmotivated. A wise idea would be to surround yourself with a supportive network, a coalition. A group of people that are on your side and wish you to succeed. This way, you can lean on them when things get tough.
There! Now you are ready. Ready to decide on a really good new year resolution. As a bonus, you have my faith. Good luck! And a Happy New Year!
Ethel