Unless you commit to a daily ritual for at least 25 days in January, you might as well not bother making resolutions or expect 2015 to be any different. We start of zealous enough but by the end of January things are pretty much on the same wavelength, except for a new calendar maybe. The biggest reason for your New Year resolutions falling flat is the goals itself.
The top 3 non career goals people come to me for are losing weight, finding inner peace and spending more time with family. The career goals include growing or starting a business or getting promoted or finding a better job. What I advise is identifying the goal with clarity and then implementing the actual action steps on a daily basis which will make the goal achievable.
The first step to doing this is to know clearly what you want for yourself. It should be what you really want and not what you should want. So while it’s a good idea to aim to be thinner or richer, it is not imperative to the level of happiness you experience in your life.
When you set a goal because it is expected or perhaps it has always been a goal and you can’t even remember why, then you will not have the steam to pull it through. Deciding once and for all, that you are good enough as you are is a great way to feel happy and confident on the onset of 2015.
Dropping some outdated goals may be the best thing you can do for your well being.
Next, if you really, really desire something for yourself, then work backwards and strategise what you think someone who has achieved this goal must have done and still does. Someone who has a book published probably writes everyday. Someone who is peaceful and calm possibly meditates daily or does yoga. Someone who is climbing up the corporate ladder swiftly surely shows off their efficiency and entrepreneurship in their day-to-day functions at work.
You have to start where you are, stop blaming the people around you or your circumstance and use your current position and resources as your stepping stones. By all means get a walking stick for the early days if you feel that it will help keep you going through the steep start. Hire a personal life coach or get others to help keep you accountable. Even ticking off daily on a calendar can be very effective.
Create a reward system for the commitment to the daily activity rather than to the actual final achievement of the goal. Commit to 25 days out of 30 a month to “do” the activity that you know will bring you closer to your goal and then reward yourself with something when you fulfill it. For example, when I meditate 25 days in a month, I reward myself with something serenely beautiful for my home that actually complements the practice. For example, new cushions or candle holder for my den. If you manage to do your exercise again for 25 days out of the month, then buy yourself new shoes or a new yoga mat or something. Extravagant gifts also work, and in fact you will be able to feel deserving of something that you could have otherwise afforded anyway. When you use this system, you won’t feel guilty when making the purchase. In fact it will stand as a reminder of your own milestones and will encourage you to keep going in the direction of your dreams.
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