New Year! New Me?

Happy New Year Everyone! 2016 is now a part of history filed away into your mental storage…right? Right! 2017 is here and it isn’t going to wait for you to get back on your feet from the holidays. What does your New Year’s Resolution list look like?

If your list looks like that blank piece of paper above…pick up that pen and start scratching your head for some ideas!

Some people may think…New Year’s Resolutions are pointless, you forget them in a few weeks anyway. It is all about perspective and how you set out your Resolutions. A Resolution is definitive, it is a firm decision to do something. Like anything else in life, you must work at it and put effort in for it to happen! New Year is the perfect time to set up these resolutions or goals (why has no one ever just called them goals…).

The saying goes, “New Year, New Me”. You have just come back from a decent break, refreshed and rested from a year of work; you can think clearly and decide the path you want to take this year without the stress and burden of work.

How to approach the New Year?

If you treat New Year Resolutions like simple goals, you have already taken a big step. If you set a big, quite unreachable target, you won’t feel motivated to accomplish it. Set small goals that are arms-length in distance, and slowly build up towards something greater and bigger. The key is to build up your confidence and your motivation to work. The greatest feeling is getting a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Be specific in what you decide to do and be realistic. “I will become Manager and earn a lot of money” isn’t quite going to cut it if you have no leadership skills nor experience in managing a team. “For the first month, I will participate in 5 group discussions to express improvements for my team” is a better start and you have a deadline.

How to Motivate yourself to be Resolute?

Have a think about what are your strengths and weaknesses. Building on a positive can be encouraging and easy to do, but it doesn’t offer the strongest accomplishment. It can be a start but it shouldn’t be your ultimate goal. Turning a weakness into a strength is what everyone ought to be aiming for. There is always an aspect of you that has veered off track and should be redirected. Think of the consequences and the harm you have experienced because of this; you now have the courage to do something about it.

Give yourself time to accomplish the resolution. This must be a set timeframe not some arbitrary value that you set for fun. Treat each goal like a project and with each project comes responsibility to complete on time. Create some sort of response if the resolution is not accomplished so you feel the pressure. Plus make sure you give yourself a “pat on the back” and acknowledge when you have achieved a new year’s goal. Its important you do that. A very important tip to accomplishing these resolutions is to have someone monitor your progress. No cutting corners and no “I’ll do better next time” nonsense.

"You don't want to look at the whole staircase and think: 'I can't do it.' Instead, look at each small step. Take the first small step, and then the next small step, and carry on." – Lynda Field, Life Coach

Take Home Message:

New Year Resolutions should be treated like goals, setting out specific and reachable goals to ensure that you can reach them if you put in the effort. Have someone monitor your progress so you know you are still on track or if you fail, someone can remind you of the consequences. The ultimatum is to develop and improve to try to become a better person today than you were yesterday. When you hit a wall, you climb it. Never give up, Happy 2017!