Not New Year’s Resolutions
How many times have you made a New Year’s Resolution? How many times have you kept up with it?
Studies show that 80% of New Year’s Resolutions fail, many before the end of February. There is no one reason why this is the case. Sometimes it’s because they were too vague or too big, or no time was invested into the why behind the resolution, it might be because we set it because we thought we should. Whatever the reason, it can be very disheartening and once you lose your momentum it can be almost impossible to get back on track which is why we then wait until the next new year to begin again.
This isn’t to say that having goals and wanting to make changes is a bad idea – it isn’t, in fact these can be very important. We just need to be more thoughtful when we’re setting them and thinking about them. As humans, we are constantly changing which means what want to achieve at the turn of the year, when we usually set our resolutions, maybe very different in a few weeks – yet another reason for them to not be successful.
I’m not sure I ever kept up with a New Year’s resolution beyond January, which is why 6 years ago I changed approach.
6 years ago I stumbled across the concept of choosing a word for the year as an alternative to making resolutions. The idea behind it is that unlike a resolution, a word can’t be broken. It can, however, guide us in all aspects of our lives. A word can support us in creating the positive life changes we want and in achieving the small and large goals we form as we go. It can also help us with how we want to feel and what we want to become in order to reach our potential.
There are numerous ways of ‘finding’ your “word”:
Think of all the things you’d like to feel, be and do.
What motivation do you need?
What is your why?
Sketch out what your ideal day looks like.
What would you like to be doing this time next year?
Look for anything that ties all these things together. Write out all the words that come to mind, look at the definitions and synonyms. One will resonate more than the others. Sit with this word for a couple of days and if things feel right still, then that’s your word. If not, pick a new word until one feels right.
When you’ve found your word it’s time to find ways to keep it in mind throughout the year. First write down your own definition of the word and how it’ll be relevant to aspects of your life. Then make it visible – put it in a vision board, write it out on post-it notes and put them around your house, tell people about it, put it on your social media if that makes it come alive for you, use it as a daily mantra or bring it to mind every time you come up against a hurdle. I like to create a graphic that I can print off and put on my noticeboard next to my computer, and one in my main notebook, so it’s always visible.
