New Year Resolutions

Posted by: Krishna De | Posted on: January 1st, 2007 | 0 Comments | Posted in: Goals

I always used to find the time of New Year a depressing time – be that looking back on plans that did not come to fruition or it being an anti climax to the great festivities of Christmas.

I am sure that my demeanour and attitude to New Year was influenced my the fact that as a family we didn’t celebrate New Year as it was on the 3 January that my father passed away leaving a young widow and two little ones – me and my sister.  So New Year brought sadness to our home as I was growing up.

But something changed some years ago that made me consider New Year in a different way – so if you are someone who is not happy about New Year I’d encourage you to read on.

New Year marks a time when many of us consider our achievements in the year passed but all too often our minds turn to “what might have been” and what we have not achieved.

What I came to realise is that New Year is in fact just another day.  If we are looking to change our behaviour or attitude towards something, why do we wait to the 1 January to do so?  If we really want that change to take place we can do so at any time of year.

This change in my perspective enabled me to embrace New Year in a much more relaxed way.

Many of us write a list of New Year resolutions, but a life time of observing and participating in resolving to change has proven to me that it’s rare to find anyone upholding that resolve into February. 

Most often, resolutions are about areas of self improvement for example, losing weight, stoping smoking, working less hours, spending more time with the family etc etc.

For us to make such changes, we not only must see the need to change, but have a huge burning desire to change AND have the support and encouragement around us to do so – be that through support of family, friends or mentors.

Behavioural change can take at least 21 days to become a habit and even longer time before you embed the change so that it becomes as natural and easy as breathing and so it can become sustainable even under pressure.

So if you are planning New Year resolutions here are seven keys to support your journey to success:

1. choose to make a change in an area of your life that you have a burning desire to want to change – not something you think you need to change but something you want to change
2. don’t try to make changes in all areas of your life or business at the same time – choose one are that you want to change and that you are more likely to achieve so that you will see results sooner rather than later - this will encourage you to make future changes
3. ensure that you surround yourself with people who want you to succeed – share your resolution with others who can encourage and support you – in fact you may want to consider engaging a coach or mentor to support you
4. take time at the start of every day to remind yourself of the change that you are looking to make and ensure that you have built time into your calendar to take action towards making your reslution a reality
5. take time at the close of every day to reflect on your success towards your goal - give thanks to those who supported you and reflect on the strengths that you leveraged
6. keep a journal to chart your progress – it is easy to forget your progress
7. celebrate your success on your journey.

Implement these seven keys and you’ll be sure to have greater success in making yout New Year resolution a reality.