Are you setting New Years resolutions this year? Or Are you Setting a goal?In short, 60% of us – are outwardly stating, we want things to be better.
The folks who are shooting for small incremental changes are on to something. Avoiding putting a name on it however, is more about avoiding change than it is embracing it ,so let’s save that perspective for another article.
If you are desiring change, here are 3 alternatives to a New Years Resolution you can think about:
- You can set long or short-term goals.
- You can set a theme or focus for the year, and
- You can create intentions.
With all three choices – you can begin with the questions. These questions will bring to the surface what you truly desire to change for the better:
- “What would I like to have better in my life?”
- “What do I really want, that I don’t currently have” or perhaps
- “What do I have that I don’t currently want?”
- “What would make me extra-ordinarily happy to be working towards?”
Can’t decide what type of format to choose?
Here are a few features of goals, themes, and intentions:
Goal Setting
To set a goal, you will identify the definitions of success. You will identify the place you are now, and the place you want to be (and be consistently aware of the gap between the two). In a goal setting, you will lay out milestones, strategies, projects, and tasks – and the route to your self-defined success will be laid out and your path to your destination is set.
A theme for the Year
To set a theme or two for your next year, a much simpler approach than goal setting applies. Think in terms of what you value, and for each value theme, find the specific behaviours that would honour that value. Then act in alignment with those behaviors consistently.
Making intentions for they Year
To set an intention, you describe your in the present tense, describing it as if it is happening now and then raising awareness of any barriers to you having your intention already. The intention repeated continually, together with your work to overcome the barriers –this will be your focus in this type of planning.
All 3 alternatives to New Years Resolutions have these in common:
1. Clarity about what you want to be better in your life.
This can also mean you are crystal clear on what you no longer want, and you turn that awareness into positively stating what you do want.
2. Clarity of your ‘internal’ reasons for what you want
Goals which are created for validation or to keep up with the Jones’s – often fail because the intrinsic meaning is not there. When you are able to identify why an outcome is really, really meaningful to you – it creates a vacuum to pull you forward the effort required to meet your goal.
3. Clarity about how to move from where you are now to where you want to be.
There is always a better way. Mentors share these. Coaches elicit these. Understanding the most effective route to cross the gap of where you are now and your eventual success is needed.
4. Small consistent behavior and small measured targets in alignment with what you want more of.
Breaking your actions into small incremental steps will assist you to maintain focus by eliminating the overwhelm that comes from having to hold to many details in your thoughts. When things are bite-sized – they are much, easier to chew.
5. Awareness of any barriers in your way – and an awareness of how to get around those barriers.
Barrier removal is the work to be done after you are clear of what you really, really want. This is the consistent focus that is needed until your outcome has been reached.
6. You are clear that your desires are within your own ability to take action on. Personal fulfillment is directly tied to you easily being the doer of the action.
You might find you do better with one type of planning over another. Some times this takes a little experimentation to really discover if one system works better than another. It can be useful to leverage your preferred learning style, and how you like to track things. In the end, it can all come down to personal reference for your desired working style.
Do you like mind maps? Charts? Spreadsheets? Or Journaling?
Your preferences are going to help you decide which planning method fits with your own levels of enjoyment.
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Tip: “Find a coach who is comfortable working with all 3 alternatives to New Years resolutions”
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Here is something to remember; it is the journey towards your goals that can bring the greatest personal fulfillment. That is, the journey will bring more personal fulfillment than even reaching the goal.
If you are happily engaged with taking action towards what you want – and can feel that enjoyment along the way – your likelihood of sticking with a particular journey to your goal is greater and your sense of accomplishment will soar.
So, setting up things so they are enjoyable, and perhaps even a little fun – can go a long way to keeping your inspired and approaching things from a light and enjoyable way.
If you are in the small percentage of folks that have been uproariously happy with how your last year, and can honestly say you would not have wanted anything to be better than it was – You can always just ride the tide of change –and see where it takes you.
If however, you are in the majority of folks, who are aware of the pain of not making change, or that realize making things better is something they do want. I encourage you to begin a process now, where you put yourself in the direction of making change. Life is too short to have regrets and it can actually cost you – to delay.
Remember too that creating change brings along with it new challenges. Just know with the proper support – no challenge is insurmountable when you understand how to respond to it.
Your planning efforts are going to put you in a better place to being able to respond to the year before it gets to you.
What kind of planning do you personally plan to use this next year?
