Make 2006 Your Best Year Yet
Why Make Resolutions?
We like endings and beginnings. It gives us a chance to look back and take stock. The New Year is an excellent time to make resolutions and set yourself goals and targets for the year ahead.
First steps
The first step to setting yourself some realistic resolutions is to take stock of where you are now in your life. This enables you to really have a think about what changes you might need to make.
1. Write yourself a list of 8 main areas of your life. Examples include: House/environment, Job/Career, family, friends, social/cultural life, health, money/finances, relationship/significant other.
2. Have a think about each area and award it a mark out of ten - with ten being as near to 'perfect' as is humanely possible.
3. Pick the areas with the lowest scores as the ones to prioritise changes in. If they're all low, then pick the ones that are more important to you to improve.
4. Have a think about what kind of improvements would change your rating for the better. Start with a list of what you need to do to up your rating from its score to one nearer a ten. It's important that these are all things within your control - don't, for example, write "win the lottery" under the area of finances. Examples include: see more of my family (under family), spend more quality time with my partner, decorate my house, learn a new subject. Also, just take some time to have a think about what you really would like to achieve in 2006. Think of new things that you've been putting off doing, or things that you wanted to achieve in 2005 but perhaps didn't get round to.
5. Separate these actions into short-term
(ongoing goals, or ones that you can achieve either immediately or in
the near future), medium term (up to about 3 months) and long-term (years).
For example: In the area of health. A short-term or ongoing goal could
be to drink 2 litres of water every day. A medium term goal could be to
reach a desired level of fitness by the spring or summer.
6. Once you have a list of your possible resolutions, have a think about which ones would have the greatest impact for the better into your life. Which ones excite you? Which ones scare you? Which ones do you think you would get the greatest rewards from doing? Which ones do you think you'd regret not doing? Give yourself an action plan about how you're going to implement them and be precise about them. An example of being precise is to take the goal of seeing more of my family. Decide how much is more. This means really pinning it down. Do you want to see them once a week? three times? Once every month, but phoning them every Sunday? This gives you a much more precise goal to work towards than the vague statement of "seeing more of my family".
Now you've made your resolutions here are some tips as to how you might stick to them
- Write your resolutions down - you're more likely to stick to them if you have.
- Keep a copy of your resolutions somewhere where you can see it. It's also useful to have on you, some kind of incentive for sticking to your resolution. So, if you're saving up to go on holiday, keep a postcard of where you want to go with you to stop yourself spending money on frivolous and unnecessary purchases.
- Adopt a more flexible outlook and don't things as success or failures. if you break your resolution, see it as a set-back rather than a total failure. And just because you've broken your resolution one day, doesn't mean you can't try and stick to it the next day. With your flexible outlook should also be a recognition that you won't be a failure if you don't stick to your resolution.
- Remember that change is not an easy process. Imagine starting to drink tea or coffee without sugar and how difficult that might be to start with.
- Many resolutions expect you to make big changes. You're more likely to succeed if you make your changes gradual. Imagine starting to drink tea or coffee without sugar when you're used to taking it with five spoonfuls. You're more likely to get used to cutting down the amount of sugar, than making the big leap from five spoons to none.
- Remember too that it doesn't need to be a new year for you to set yourself some resolutions to change your life and live more healthily - whether that's lifestyle changes or thought changes.
- Give yourself reminders and incentives to keep you going through the difficult times. Remind yourself of your rewards.
- When you do get bored or tired or find excuses, give yourself an easy to remember phrase to push you through. Mine, (for practising my flute is), "I might not like doing scales, but it's only by repeating these phrases that I'll become a better musician", instead of thinking "my god, these are boring, I might as well make myself a cup of tea".
- If you've made resolutions before and managed to stick to them, work out what worked in particular and employ those same techniques.
- Think ahead to December 2006. How will you feel if you've stuck to your resolutions this year? How will you feel if you gave up at the first hurdle?
- Give yourself time to work out HOW you're going to implement your changes. If you want to drink more water for example, work out what you need to do to make that easier for yourself (tip - carry a bottle of water with you at all times).
- Remember the longer-term implications of sticking to your goals
instead of the short-term rewards of breaking them!
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