Setting up yourself for success
For years and years, people make New Year’s resolutions. These are set goals that they hope to achieve within the next 12 months.
Very often people choose a few areas, that they want to improve, such as losing weight, quitting smoking, starting a relationship, changing jobs, saving money, and many more. Although there is an unlimited number of resolutions, one thing connects them all – people want to change.
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WHy we make so much noise around the new year resolutions
More often than not, we take a minute or two to make our New Year’s resolutions. And more often than not, these are the same resolutions over and over again. We start enthusiastically on January 1st, at 00:01 am, with the mindset that, Starting tomorrow morning, I’ll be a new/better person with new/better habits!
Then, tomorrow morning comes, and… nothing happens. Occasionally, the enthusiasm lasts for a week or maybe two… But eventually, we hit a roadblock and give up. After all, we can always start next year.
Because making resolutions is easier than keeping them, we often look for strategies and tips on how to start in the right way. Before diving deeper into the strategies, let’s take a look at why New Year’s resolutions don’t work.
Why new year’s resolutions don’t work
Well… It’s not that the New Year’s resolutions don’t work… They do! The real question is What do we do wrong?
Here are 5 of the most common mistakes we make when setting up our goals for the new year:
1. Making the Resolutions for the Wrong Reasons
When making your resolutions, ask yourself why you are doing this. For example, why do you want to quit eating sugar and sweets? Is it because others are telling you that sugar is bad for you? Or is it because it is not socially acceptable anymore? In any case, you would be putting other people’s opinions before yours. Well, as long as you do something because of others, nothing will change for the better.
2. Focusing on the Lack
When resolving, do you think about the good things you’d gain or the bad things you’d love to forgo? For instance, if you resolve, I will quit my job and find a better one, do you say this because you hate your job? Or perhaps you hate your boss? Or it doesn’t pay you well? In any case, if these are some of the reasons you want to quit your job, then, you are focusing on the lack of well-being, lack of good relationship with your boss, lack of money, and so on. As long as you concentrate on the lack of things, you will never attract prosperity.
3. Giving Your Power Away
What is your belief about New Year’s resolutions? Do you think that making these resolutions will cause you to change? Do you think that it is the resolution that will help you change? For example, you might believe that you can stay motivated only if you make a New Year’s resolution in front of all your family and/or friends. In such cases, you put too much emphasis on the resolution and give it unnecessary power. The truth, however, is that only you have the power to change your life.
4. Looking at the Outside rather than the Inside
More often than not, when making New Year’s resolutions, people tend to concentrate on their looks, possessions, social status, job positions, etc. For instance, you may resolve to get a promotion this year. Surely, this will give you the social status and prestige you were craving for so long. Oh, and let’s not forget the higher salary, fat bonus, and jealous look of the neighbours. And only if you had all those things, you can consider yourself successful (and thus, you can finally approve of yourself). Well… if you don’t approve of yourself, you’d never get any of these things. Even if you get them, you’d never be able to fully appreciate them and be happy and satisfied with yourself and your life.
5. Making It Too Hard
It is New Year’s Eve, and you feel so excited. After one too many glasses of champagne, everything seems possible. And, of course, you can set a schedule to work out three times a week. You even come up with a plan: you will purchase a gym membership or buy a treadmill. In reality, however, there is no gym within a one-mile radius. As for the treadmill… where are you going to put it? And how about the cost? It seems like your plan is doomed to fail before you even start.
Don’t despair! There is a very easy-peasy solution to all troubles with making New Year’s resolutions.
Set yourself UP for success with these 5 easy tips:
1. Focus on Growth, Expansion, and Love
If you want to make good New Year’s resolutions and succeed in achieving these, then, consider focusing on yourself. Specifically, think of some areas you would like to improve, learn new skills, discover new talents, etc. For instance, instead of wanting to lose weight, try discovering new (or better) ways of taking care of your body. My personal favourite is In the new year, I intend to love and appreciate my body by learning more about nutrition and by exercising regularly.
2. Focus on Abundance and Prosperity
Always check whether your resolutions focus on abundance or lack. For example, wanting to earn more money concentrates on the lack of money. This would never help you find prosperity simply because the attention is on the lack of it. Instead, you may try something like that, In the new year, I will explore my beliefs about money. I will work on releasing all negative, limiting beliefs and will learn how to use my prosperous mindset.
3. Focus on Who You Want to Be
To be successful, your resolutions need to be about you and who you want to be. For so many years, you were probably concentrating on what you want to have, what you want to be, and what you want to accomplish. And for so many years, it didn’t work. How about this time you try focusing on who you want to be? For instance, instead of In the new year, I will start a new romantic relationship, try In the new year, I intend to explore my unlimited ability to love. I intend to be a loving person who shares their love with others.
4. Use Your Power
If you want to change, learn, grow, and expand, remember that you have the power and all tools to do so. Instead of seeing the New Year’s resolutions as the “magic wand” that would make your wishes come true, see them as opportunities to learn more about yourself and as reminders of who you want to be. You can accomplish everything you wish as long as you believe in your power. Nothing outside of you can bring you the desired results. That is why, instead of spending your energy hoping that a New Year’s resolution will bring you more money, love, or promotion, use your power to create a reality of prosperity and abundance.
5. Make It Easy
As Fumio Sasaki tells us in their book, Hello, Habits, if you want to learn a new habit, then, remove all hurdles. That is, to help yourself achieve all those goals, try to make it as easy as possible. Let’s go back to our earlier example of wanting to work out three times a week by joining a gym or buying a treadmill. If this would require some extra effort, try to make a simpler resolution, such as, In the new year, I intend to find new fun ways of working out my muscles and maintaining the good tonus of my body. There are so many ways of achieving this goal without the need to drive around or spend extra money.
Whatever you choose, try not to limit yourself. Always aim to set objectives that are open-ended and allow for unlimited ways of achieving the result. True success is not getting the job or losing the pounds. True success is figuring out who you want to be, expanding your ability to love, and learning to share it all with others.
