New Year Resolutions, New Options
New Year, New Options
New options is the way I prefer to see the whole business of New Year resolutions.
After all the idea is about creating something different for the year ahead.
There is something inspiring about that first blank page of the calendar. A fresh start, a new beginning. Of course we can do this on any day but there is undoubtedly a different enthusiasm around the start of the year and it’s a shame to waste it.
I do find it incredibly frustrating though as so many programs are designed to start on the 1st January, resolutions are made with the intention of starting that day and, quite frankly, the timing is just wrong. On the first day of the year we are still in the celebration/post celebration phase. There is a strong likelihood of a full cupboard/fridge of food left over from the festivities, presents often include food and drink as well. We’re also still in the holiday period.
Instead I prefer the idea of using the first few days of the year to get ready, to think about what I want to achieve, to ponder what may be created in the year ahead and to decide what I really want. Only then will I look at how I will go about achieving that and it very rarely means making a New Year Resolution. Here’s some of the options that I might use instead
- Monthly resolutions
- Word for the year
- Goal settting
- Vision board
- Decluttering
- Review of the year gone by
- Goal mapping
- Systems designed by others (Leonie Dawson, Susanna Conway,100 day goal)
I’ve used all these options before, with varying levels of success. Some feel right one year but not the next. It’s great to have them in my tool box as options but I also love to add new options and try new things.
This year I’ll be setting a 2020 vision. I’ll create a vision of where I want to be at the end of the year 2020 and it will involve all areas of my life. Then I’ll be picking one area of life that I want to focus on the most. It may not be easy to do but having read a lot of biographies I can see that to get ahead the being really good at something is what really propels you towards success. Then each day I will focus on how I can make progress in that area.
It won’t stop me working on the other areas of my life I want to change but this will be my primary focus. It will be where the bulk of my effort and energy will be expended. I’ll break it down into bite sized chunks with clear measures and commit myself to it.
What will you create this year? The next? The year after that? In 2020?
