The beginning of a new year often comes with a New Year’s Resolution the promise of transformation and a fresh start. So, you know what that means. Yep, New Year’s Resolutions. But let’s be real, how many of those New Year’s resolutions do we keep? If you’re among the majority who find themselves abandoning their New Year’s resolutions before February even hits, you’re not alone. Richard Batts, Instructional Design Coordinator with Fisher Leadership Initiative, indicates there is research that finds that a staggering 9% of resolutions are actually kept, while a whopping 23% are abandoned within the first week alone.
So, instead of setting ourselves up for disappointment with lofty “resolutions”, how about we explore 3 better alternatives to New Year’s resolutions that can pave the way for a more fulfilling year.
Establish a Grand Plan for Yourself
One issue with keeping new Year’s resolutions is that we tend to make these sweeping declarations without them being part of a larger framework that serves as guardrails when we begin to veer off the path. Instead of just committing to vague resolutions, how about creating a grander mission that envelops those New Year’s resolutions? The larger vision will more than likely help you make the right decision when faced with forks in the road where you can veer off. Or help you back to the road when you do in fact falter.
For example, instead of a goal to “lose 25 lbs.”, how about making a commitment to better overall health so that you can run with your grandkids when you reach 60? Now we’ve involved family and it’s bigger than just you and involves more than just this year. So now, when we set our clear and actionable goals, it will have to align with a long-term vision.
Whether it’s advancing in your career, improving your health, or learning a new skill, establishing a grand plan means that resolution item is not floating around in a vacuum – it is part of a longer-term play that will force you to get up again and again.
Be Accountable to your Calendar
What tends to knock us off the resolution train is that we think we can ride motivation all the way to the finish line. Motivation fades. It always does. Making any major change last comes with the understanding that you will need to take action on many occasions when you don’t want to. This is where your calendar comes in. Make a commitment to honor anything you put in that calendar.
The idea here is to treat calendar items as non-negotiable appointments. You updated that calendar with a sober mind, knowing what it takes to succeed. Once it hits the calendar, feelings be damned. Anything written in your calendar should be considered a promise of action, regardless of how you feel about it.
If you scheduled a gym session at 2 pm on Thursday, then regardless of how you feel that day, you now have to honor it. If you promised your calendar you’d study 2 hours on Saturday from 7-9 pm, then nothing gets in the way of that – not friends, not your kids, not even free Taylor Swift tickets. If it hits the calendar, it becomes law.
Get into the habit of putting required action you must take into your calendar. We’re taking tasks related to special projects, career or business research, phone calls, personal reading, even meditation and down time. Putting a day and time stamp on things makes them more official and your feelings are less likely to get in the way. Saying “I need to do XYZ” will never have as much power as “I have committed to doing XYZ at this day and his time.”
Keep your Focus on “Winning the Day” (The Grand Plan Will Take Care of Itself)
We’ve established the grand plan and broken it down into actionable tasks. But you know the old saying:
“How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
Earlier we mentioned establishing a grand plan. But that doesn’t mean we are eyeballing it every minute of every day. There are times we feel we are not making progress when we are. It may be incremental and invisible to the naked eye sometimes, but if directed and purposeful action is taken, then we’re closer to the goal – even if we can’t see it.
When you get up every day, let’s make sure our moment-to-moment focus is on winning that day and that day alone. If we’re crafting our schedule in the right way, then we already know that each day is constructed to move us toward the grand plan. So, no need dwelling on the enormity of it all at this point. Just like a boxer looks to grind out each round, we want to grind out each day. We want to go to bed each night knowing we kept that day’s commitments.
Every rep or step in a workout is its own entity. So is every paragraph in that book you’re studying. Every task in that project. Every action to repair that relationship.
Focus on and embrace the step-by-step push. Each day will be a building block that moves you toward that eventual larger picture we created earlier.
As we step into this new year, let’s veer away from the tradition of resolutions that often end up abandoned. By establishing a grand plan, integrating goals into your calendar, and focusing on daily tasks, we’re setting yourself up for a more achievable and fulfilling year ahead. Remember, it’s not about making grand declarations but about taking consistent and deliberate steps toward a better version of yourself.
Cheers to a year of progress and growth!
