So, you’ve made your New Year’s Resolution – again! Why is it going to stick this time, when for so many years it hasn’t? I’m going to quit smoking, lose weight, get fit, sort out my relationships, get a new job, start my own business … the list goes on. Have you heard it all before?
What we tend to do, is decide we are tired of the way we are doing something or something in our life just isn’t working how we would like it to be. We dream and wish in our hearts for better options or outcomes. When we think and really connect with our dreams, we get excited, our hearts race, we feel light and joyful, full of motivation and enthusiasm. ‘Yes, this is the year I will do it!’, we tell ourselves.
We put together a plan and share it with others. ‘Yeh, you said that last year … what makes you think you will do it this time?’ The first seed of doubt is planted … or is it a red flag to a bull? Which way do you respond? Then it comes crunch time – putting those plans into action. That little voice in your head starts – ‘oh, there is so much to do and so little time; this is so hard; I wish I had someone to do this with me, but they are all so busy too, I don’t want to bother them’ … all the excuses pop up, to not do it again.
It is a matter of getting your heart and your head working together. You heart is truly, almost desperate for change, so get your head supporting it. ‘Yes, I can do it; I will create a strategy that makes it easy; I will get the right support; this is really important for me to do, for me!’
Break it down into 6 simple steps:
- Decide what you want to achieve – exactly what it will look like.
- Know why – Really, really understand why. How will your life be different and what will it mean to you when you have achieved this. How important is this to you? The more important the more you are likely to stick at it.
- Create a strategy – how will you achieve it? Every single detailed step. This can be modified along the way.
- Share with others that will support you and ask them to support you. Make them understand how important it is to you and how valuable their support will be. You may need outside, independent assistance – like a coach.
- Take action on the strategy – step by step. The most important step. Change will not happen without action.
- Celebrate every achievement towards the goal.
Remember, you get what you focus on and to embrace change now to create your ultimate lifestyle. You didn’t end up where you don’t want to be overnight, so the solution will not happen overnight. Give yourself a realistic time frame to achieve it. Most of all have fun and be happy along the journey – happiness is a choice, not an outcome.
Mark Twaine said, ‘In twenty years you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.’
