It’s that time of year again when we promise ourselves some desired improvement or change to an aspect of our life in the coming New Year.
New Year’s resolutions essentially mark the start of a new year as an opportunity to set goals for personal growth. Committing to new habits or behaviors is a way of reflecting on the past and actively striving for a better future.
On or about every January first, we all seem to engage in this ubiquitous act. Said another way, resolutions are an act engaged everywhere by everyone done at about the same time. It is omnipresent. And to the surprise of no one, in 2024, the most common resolutions were improving health and well-being. Specifically eating healthier, reducing stress, exercising, spending time with family and friends, reducing time on social media, and saving money.
“I think in terms of the day’s resolutions, not the years’ (resolution).”
There are two challenges in making resolutions. One is conceptual and the other is about implementation. The first can be found in our definition of what we’re trying to accomplish; call it defining the why…the true why. It is about uncovering the physical, emotional, mental, and/or spiritual reason for inspiring us into the resolution.
The quote above by Henry Moore is a tremendous way for each of us to contemplate and go deep into what we want to accomplish. Very rarely do we measure the impact on our year, but rather in our day-to-day living. Resolutions, when vetted then and adequately engaged with a defined why in place, become daily aspirations towards specific actions with immediate outcomes. The goal is to reduce our vision into a reality of daily inputs with daily outputs.
“Making New Year resolutions is one thing. Remaining resolute and seeing them through is quite another.”
Alex Morritt is hitting the nail on the head. This is the second challenge, and it represents the biggest tripping point, which is staying committed to the resolution. It’s all about the follow through, even when and especially when it’s hard, inconvenient, disruptive, or it becomes boring and repetitive.
Lack of follow-up and follow through cause the majority of all initiatives to fall short. We can become disillusioned when what we thought we’d be doing doesn’t align with what we’re actually doing. We can get upset when things don’t happen fast enough. We can get agitated when the plan falls short. We can get bored with the same thing repeatedly being done. We can drift off course when other things take precedence. There are so many viable reasons why we should stop, which means our reason why we’re doing this, whatever it is, must always supersede and be bigger than any reason why we stop.
Effective New Year’s Resolutions have Parts.
As with any goal or objective with a clearly defined purpose, comes a requirement to have an equally clearly defined plan. Each element critical to the other like the one piece of the puzzle that is uniquely designed to fit in an exact place to reveal the finished puzzle.
Even though that ‘puzzle’ analogy may make complete sense, is not the way I would advise constructing a plan for a resolution. Resolutions need to be less concrete and unyielding, and more flexible and able to adapt to change. Maybe a better analogy is a game plan in sports. Games plans can be and, most often, are fluid by design. They have options and built-in contingencies based on probabilities, trends and unknowns. Call it, being proactive in being reactive.
Having said all that, there are some constants and best practices to consider in the midst of the unexpectedness, uncertainty, and disruption during resolution implementation.
New Year’s Best Practices
Figure out your why: Be willing, honest and open to defining the true root cause of wanting to improve or change a behavior or behaviors.
Make your resolution behaviorally specific: Be clear about what you want to accomplish. For example, instead of just “exercise more,” you could say “go walking for 30 minutes three times a week”.
Come up with a plan (not the plan): Determine how, when, where, who, and to what extent you want to accomplish your resolution.
Plan for tripping points and excuses: Consider what might derail you from your efforts and how you’ll deal with it. Create contingencies.
Get an accountability partner: Let a friend, family member, mentor, or peer know what you’re doing and why, and then ask them to check in with you regularly to hold you accountable.
Track and reward your progress: Keep a journal or diary to stay focused and recover from setbacks. Celebrate your progress with a treat or something special.
Mix it up and stay flexible: Keep things interesting by adding new activities, changing up some methods and inputs, or be sure to improvise when needed with your resolution.
No matter what, stay positive: Remind yourself of the desired outcome of your resolution to stay focused and motivated. If there are setbacks or failure…accept, learn and keep moving.
Resolutions come and go. The ones that stick and bear fruit are the ones that are designed on purpose-for purpose, done one step at a time-one day at a time and measured by progress not perfection.
What’s this year going to bring?
New Year’s Challenge Questions
I challenge you with the following questions as you reflect backwards to project forwards.
- Why even do a resolution?
- What have you done in the past?
- Pick a resolution and ask why this/why now?
- Can you define a clear expectation and all necessary/specific behaviors?
- What’s the plan…what, how, when, how often, by when?
- How will you acknowledge effort in failure, obstacles, achievement, partnerships, support?
- Which criteria will effectively measure your success?
Want to learn more perspectives about Reflection? Visit our podcast or visit one of our locations.
