Welcome to a new sparkly, fresh and clean New Year – 2023!
We have big expectations for you 2023, after everyone has been travelling overseas after 2 years of being locked in your four walls.
I get super excited every New Year because I have process that means I head into the year with a Strategic Life Map for the year ahead and beyond. I cannot wait to start to work on the things I am focussing on for 2023.
The New Year does begin with loads of people declaring promises to themselves or to others about what they are going to do differently this year. Only to see them break them only a few weeks later.
Let me be clear, I am not casting dispersions on anyone trying to change their life. Change is hard, man! I am barracking for them to make a success of changes they want to make. Congratulate yourself for the intention to work on improving yourself. The intention is a great one and well done to you.
Let’s look at how we can make this way better, by running through the 5 reasons why New Year’s Resolutions fail, and what to do instead.
REASONS WHY RESOLUTIONS FAIL
Immediacy Effect
Often the New Year’s Resolutions have been made the morning after a night of indulging. Change that people want to make is what is “front of mind” at the time, for example eat less food, drink less alcohol, get more sleep, do more movement. The immediacy of them, means that they are more a reaction rather than a considered change. A considered change generally has solid foundations arrived at after a period of reflecting and/or dreaming, with supporting strategies in place to assist make them an enduring change.
Not writing them down
Declaring the changes, you are going to make in the wee hours of the morning or the day after, is often not enough for them to be acted on. To make them enduring you need to write them down. You can record them any way you wish, vision boards, journal, or a life map (you get a Strategic Life Map from my course, Designing your Life, on Purpose)
A Harvard Business study revealed that 14% of people with goals are 10 times more successful than those without goals. Astonishingly, the 3% that have written goals are 3 times more successful than the 14% with unwritten goals.
Yay you for having goals in the first place! If you write them down you will be even more successful. I have chosen to interpret this study as more successful in achieving the goals they set out to achieve, as opposed to some arbitrary rules of success.
Personally, I have found that when I have them recorded on my Strategic Life Map for each year, generates a galvanising effect. I can get distracted with new shiny things all the time and having my dreams (BTW I call them dreams, much funner) written down, means I can check if the new shiny thing is something I want to swap for an existing dream or something I can defer to the next year or following year’s plans.
The other aspect of having them written means at the quarter and half year mark, it is much easier to reflect on progress and either adjust dreams or adjust tack.
Where does dreaming come in?
It is great to look at improvements, but they are only part of the picture. What are you trying to improve or move towards? Being really clear, on what you are striving towards will make heaps of difference. Knowing what you overall focus towards the life that is perfect for you, will ensure that each year you are moving closer to that ideal. This requires you to start thinking about all the wonderful dreams you have and then select which ones to focus on now. As with point 1 you might find you have reflected on something and created a goal around it, and it might not lead you towards the life you want. So, ensure that the goal is aligned towards your dreams.
One of my most favourite quotes is “If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll. I find this a really powerful way to check in and make sure you are choosing the right path for you.
There is reflection and then there is REFLECTION
You might have taken a lot of care to be able to determine what the focus for your New Year will be and you might not have. When I run Design your Life, On Purpose (DYLOP) workshops and retreats, the pre-requisite is REFLECTION REVOLUTION. This is a pre-requisite because deep reflection is an essential tool in every day and has the power to radically change your direction. Around 50 % of people who attend DYLOP think they know exactly where they need to focus, only to find with reflection and dreaming, that they change the direction. The more you practice this skill the more you get better at it and being able to tap into the unuttered needs, buried deep within the stomach.
Support strategies
Not every dream will be successful on its first outing, you might falter at the first hurdle. Building support strategies will help refocus your attention back to the dream. Ensuring the dream is the right focus is really important, it centres you, giving an assurance. Then you build in support mechanisms to increase your success. Let’s explain this with an example; Let’s say your dream is to move more. A support strategy might be to put your walking clothes and shoes in sight as soon as you wake up, so you trip over them on the way to the bathroom or every hour on the dot you stand up for 10 mins. These strategies then will support your success.
Intention is super good, let’s just encourage it to be more enduring, by putting in the following to have more successful dreams.
MORE SUCCESSFUL DREAMS
The following are the strategies you can help to get more out of the New Year Resolution or at any stage in the year that you decide to focus on something different. Before you start try these 4 things:
Reflect on the last 12 months. Before you set your plan for 2023, really reflect on the year that has been and what went well and what you would do differently. Set aside at least 30 mins in a nice quiet place. Before you rush headlong into all the things you need to improve, spend a reasonable chunk of time on what went well.
Start a Dream Journal. Choose a special journal that will only be for capturing dreams. You can also brainstorm a load of dreams to get started. Any and every dream, of something you have wanted to do or be, of every shape and size.
Write the Reflection and Dreams down. By recording the dreams and reflections increases your success and helps embed them in your noggin. Written plans are more likely to be successful.
Determine what support strategies you need and put them in place. Think through what has tripped you up in the past and what you can put in place to increase your chance of success this time.
To help embed the skills and habits, here are two things you can build into every day:
Reflect Daily - Start journaling every day, reflecting on the day that has been and capturing a minimum of 3 things you are grateful for.
Dream on. Every time you have a dream or idea, capture in your dream journal. It could be you overhear something, and you want to do it too.
HOW CAN I HELP?
There are a couple of ways I can help you start to get better plans for 2023 and beyond.
Start exploring possibilities
If you are the type of person who is a little lost (aren’t we all sometimes) you might want to start off by having a massive list of possibilities, before committing to any. This program is 3 weeks long and as it is conducted online is the perfect starting point. It explores both Reflection Revolution and Dream Quest, so you can get a fabbo list of possibilities. Click here to find out more
A Strategic Life Map is in your future
If you are ready to create a Strategic Life map for 2023 and beyond, then this is for you. Delivered in a 4 week online and 1 day face to face versions, it will give you the structure and support mechanism to improve your success. In fact, the program has generated a 14% increase in Life Satisfaction in just 3 months. Click here to find out more
Not for now
Here is the list of all the program dates for 2023
Go forth my pretties and get the future that you deserve. Keep an eye out for free upcoming webinars.
Happy New Year!
Yours Collaboratively
CMM
Wanna work with me? - Here is how
Items just for you….
Book in for possibilities exploration
Join the free Incahoots Business Book Club to read more books
Sign up to a wholistic wellbeing program creating a Strategic Life Map, designed to future proof (Design Your Life on Purpose)
Items for you and your team…
Book me as a Guest speaker
Work incahoots to design and deliver an outcome focused workshop
Deliver a workshop on strengths and their application to strategy (Strengthen your Strategy)