What to do instead of setting a New Year's Resolution

You have probably spent most of your adult life setting a new year’s resolution every year, only to be bummed out before the end of February and then forget all about the intentions you set because it all feels too hard. Does this sound familiar to you?

There is no doubt in my mind that right now, as we are heading into a new year, you are thinking about what needs to change in your life, that you need to do some things better to feel healthier, lose weight or get fitter. For some reason, we always tend to set a new year’s resolution around our health. I’m not sure why we do that, but I’m going to focus on showing you another way to enter the new year feeling good about yourself with a plan that feels achievable without taking over your life.

Why Your New Year’s Resolution doesn’t work

According to Lifehack, only 12% of people who set goals as new year’s resolutions actually see them through and achieve their goals, with weight loss being the most common new year’s resolution. There are many factors playing a role in the failure of new year’s resolutions, some include wanting results too fast, the influence of past failures affecting confidence, not tracking progress and procrastination or just thinking about it too much instead of taking action. When it comes to weight loss, the influence of the many “diet” companies heavily advertising in preparation for new year’s resolutions promising the “quick fix” also adds to the problem. It’s a vicious cycle. New year’s resolutions are usually based on negative feelings we have about ourselves, which is why we are often so desperate for a quick fix. When they fail, they further add to those negative feelings such as guilt, shame, disappointment, low self esteem and self worth.

Find your Focus for the year

Instead of setting a new year’s resolution, choose a word of the year that can be your sole focus for the whole year. That word can then be tied to your goals and intentions in different areas of your life. Taking this approach will allow you to tap into your desires with motivation and self kindness with positive feelings that will help you to keep moving forward. It’s a really great way to connect to your values, set your intentions and goals with realistic expectations and track as you go so that you know exactly what success looks like for your given goal, based on your word for the year. There are a couple of steps involved in choosing your word for the year.

1. Reflect on the current year

What did you set out to achieve this year? Did you achieve what you set out to do, or were there some goals that didn’t quite go to plan? A great exercise to do when reflecting is journaling – sit down for an hour or two, and reflect and write all the things that you did and didn’t achieve. This is a really good start to thinking about what you want to achieve in the coming year.

2. Connect to your values

What is important to you? What motivates you to take action? Values are the beliefs that govern how we live, guide us in making decisions in all areas of our lives and are the core of our being. Connecting to our values when thinking about our word for the year will ensure that we focus on something that has deep meaning for us. It is intrinsic, almost a part of us. If there are a few areas that we want to focus on in our life, that one word will have intention and motivation behind it, when it comes to setting goals.

3. Set some goals

Choose three areas of your life that you may want to focus on and set some goals using the SMART method. Your goal must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding and Time based. Some areas of your life you could choose from include health, work, finances, family, relationships, spirituality, friends, fitness, fun/recreation, and creativity/hobbies for example. Be sure not to set too many goals as this will become overwhelming and set you up for failure. After the goals have been set, it’s important then to break down the goal into achievable steps with an end date. Breaking down the goal into steps allows you to determine the changes you need to make in forming new habits to achieve the goal. Scheduling this in your calendar will remind you of what you are trying to achieve, as consistency is how we see results over time.

4. Choose your word for the year

After you have reflected on the current year, connected to your values and set some goals relative to some areas of your life, reflect on the work you have done and think about what word would symbolise your motivation and positivity for the year. It is always a good idea to google some words and their meanings to see if they resonate with you. This is a totally personal activity to do and there is no right or wrong, choose a word that means something to you and instils a feeling of motivation and achievement.

5. Create a Vision Board

Creating a vision board will help to keep you connected to the overall goals you have set and the feelings of having achieved those goals. The word you have chosen for the year will be the central focus of the vision board, with the individual goals represented to help you work towards and manifest the goals. There are many different ways of creating a vision board, whichever way you do it, make sure you put it somewhere where you see it every day as a reminder of what you are trying to achieve in any given area of your life.

The beauty of choosing a word for the year is that it is done intentionally and with thought and planning, setting you up for success. I invite you to have a go at choosing a word for the upcoming year, even if it is just for one goal and see how it goes for you throughout the year.

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