It’s that time of year again. The time when we bid farewell to the old and embrace the infinite promise of the new. In 2020 we welcome not just a new year but a new decade, forging a path towards a better version of ourselves and a happier and more successful life. And it’s likely that your New Year’s resolutions will play a part in that… at least in theory. New Year’s resolutions are nothing new. In fact, they’ve been a part of many Western cultures since the days of ancient Rome. But for all our ambition and sincerity when we make our resolutions, we’re pretty consistently terrible at keeping them. Perhaps it’s because our resolutions make us miserable, causing us to experience pain that’s disproportionate to the gain. Or maybe they’re poorly defined, unrealistic or frankly impossible.
Let’s look at some of the ways you can re-frame this year’s resolutions to be more positive and achievable than last year’s so that hopefully you’ll be able to stick to them…
Make them specific and realistic
Many of us fall short of achieving our resolutions because they’re too vague and we have no idea how to track our progress on the way to achieving them. Make your resolutions as specific and realistic as possible and make sure you have a clear metric in place to determine how close or how far you are from achieving them.
Make them personal
Please don’t fall into the trap of making yourself miserable to achieve someone else’s goals just because you feel that you should or because all of your work colleagues are pursuing them. Your resolutions should be personal and help you to feel better about yourself. The more personal your goals, the better.
Make them enjoyable
Putting your resolutions into action should be challenging and fun, not a gruelling chore. If pursuing a resolution makes you miserable, you’ll inevitably jettison it by March. So try and re-frame your resolutions in terms that make you happier. Use going to the gym as an excuse to show off the new Bonds clothing to which you’ve just treated yourself. Use your vow to eat more healthily as an excuse to find new recipes that you love cooking and eating. You need to love the journey rather than just the destination… otherwise you won’t get anywhere!
Make them positive
Your resolutions should be about investing in yourself and taking better care of yourself, not flagellating yourself for not being able to achieve an impossibly high standard. Encourage yourself and congratulate yourself on your achievements… don’t fall into the trap of just berating yourself for your failures.
And don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!
Don’t aim for a new you. To do so would be to discount the thoroughly lovely person that the old you was and is. By all means strive for self-improvement… but don’t throw the baby out with the proverbial bathwater.
Remember that you and your life will always be a work in progress. You won’t achieve transcendence this year… and you won’t next year either. But maybe you’ll be a little happier, healthier and more comfortable in your own skin.
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