I appreciate I’m getting in early but after a wonderful meal out recently I got thinking about indulgence vs restraint and the time old scenario of Christmas over-enthusiasm vs New Year self–denial… I think it was the second mince pie that did it!
This is a cycle that plays out every year across the globe and is completely counter intuitive to the motivational phrase ‘don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today.’
Why do we all wait until January 1st to put our resolutions in place and why is it estimated that just 8% of us actually achieve our resolution goals? Many of us will say we want to be healthy and lose weight and that it’s impossible to do this over Christmas. Others will say it’s a new year and therefore a fresh start to change career plans but is there really a difference between the 31st December and the 1st January? Unless you attack your resolution with just that ‘ the resolution to make change’ things will pretty much stay the same. In fact US research suggests that people are at an all time low in January and actually August is the time to think about major changes.
So, as we’re now playing catch up, here’s a couple of ideas to think about BEFORE the 1st Jan that you can try out to ensure that you are in exactly the right frame of mind to truly make positive change for yourself in 2014.
TAKE RESPONSIBILITY – Cause & Effect
How exactly do you live your life? At ‘cause’ or ‘effect’? It’s important to know the distinction.
If you live at ‘cause’ – an aspirational place to be – you are taking responsibility for what you have or will achieve. You know you have choices open to you in how to react and interact to ensure you stay on track with your plans and aspirations. If things go slightly off track you know that it’s in your power and within your own responsibility to adapt and find a way to get back on track. You’re taking responsibility for your actions and decisions.
If you live at ‘effect’ however, which the majority of people do, you are more likely to find blame and excuses in others and in situations as a means of explaining why something has gone awry or your goals haven’t been achieved. It’s the opposite of taking personal responsibility and instead momentarily pushes the issues away from you. Do you feel empowered and motivated though? Undoubtedly not.
The easiest way to think of it is if you are at ‘cause’ you are more likely to be saying ‘in spite of ‘x’ I will do ‘y’’ whilst if you are at ‘effect’ you are more likely to be saying ‘because of ‘x’ I couldn’t do ‘y’.
Take responsibility to achieve what you want. To get different results and change how to get there you need to be on the cause side of reason.
Practise identifying this in yourself and how you language situations so that by January you are starting to think and live at ‘cause’. It will certainly allow you to be more resourceful in achieving your goals.
GOAL SETTING
Setting a resolution needs to be like any other goal you set in life. In business we often talk about goals being S.M.A.R.T. ie: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed. Try replacing the word ‘achievable’, which is fairly similar to ‘realistic’ with the words ‘as present’. This allows you to apply the goal as if you are already living it. eg: It’s 20th March 2014 and I am 10lbs lighter in weight than I was on Christmas day! It feels stronger doesn’t it?
It’s also important that the goal is yours and completely within your control to own and deliver against.
The main considerations when goal setting are to:
CONCEIVE – you need to conceive the goal and make sure it is achievable and valuable for you to attain. Think about it ‘as present’ and test it’s validity. What positive benefit is it going to add to your life now you have it?
BELIEVE – If you don’t have 100% belief that there is a certainty of achievement try taking smaller increments towards the goal. Remember a small step towards achieving the end result is still a big win.
WILL – Use your will to re-establish belief. This is different from will power as you can use as much will power as possible but if you don’t truly believe the goal is yours you won’t get there.
ACTION – Take action now. Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today.
…..now where were those mince pies?
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