Making new year resolutions - thoughts, ideas and my process
Posted by kathryn in Summer
I’ve been thinking a lot about new year resolutions recently – after all it’s that time of year. While I’ve noticed more and more articles and people poo-pooing the idea of new year resolutions, I actually like them.
While I realise many people break their resolutions quickly and most don’t last beyond January, I think that’s a problem with how we make new year resolutions, rather than with the concept itself.
Most resolutions have a big picture focus and are underminingly vague. If people make resolutions like “lose weight”, “get fit”, “quit smoking”, “get healthy” I’m not surprised they don’t last. Without boundaries, a defined plan and realistic sense of what’s possible a new year resolution is bound to fail.
It’s one of the things I’ve learnt with clients. Most clients come to me wanting to “eat well and be healthy”, which seems fair enough. However, for this to happen and for our relationship and meetings to be a success, we have to work out exactly what eating well and health means for them.
I’ve been making new year resolutions for years now. Some don’t work, but many do. Some I discard early, realising they’re not right for me, but many become part of the year ahead. Ideas to live by and a focus for the person I want to be.
This is my way of making resolutions. It’s not a hard and fast process and it may not be right for you, however it works for me:
- I spend the whole of January thinking about my new year resolutions. Rather than making them in a rush of impulsiveness on 1 January, I take some time to consider what I really want for the year ahead.
- I don’t just concentrate on one aspect of my life, instead I think about work, health, food, finances, career, professional development, my personal relationships. I try to work out what I want to happen in each of those areas.
- I try to be specific about what I want. For example, rather than saying “get fitter” I think about exactly what that means for me. What would being fitter feel like for me, how would I know when I was fitter? Is there a way I can test my fitness during the year?
- I make a plan which concentrates on behaviour changes. If I want to realise each of those resolutions, how do I make it happen.
- I write all this down and then leave it for a week. I allow myself a week to mull over the ideas and think about whether they’re right and going to work. I then tweak and change my plans accordingly.
- Most importantly, I then write everything in the back of my diary. I carry my diary with me everywhere, so I also have my new year resolutions with me all the time. Which means I regularly review my plans and remain focussed over the year.
The 2012 process has already started. I have notes scrawled in my diary and on scraps of paper dotted around my desk. Thoughts and possibilities I’ve jotted down which might eventually make my new year resolution list.
For me, new year resolutions are part of growing and developing as a person. They’re a way of making changes to my life – discarding the stuff that doesn’t help and taking on new projects, activities, ways of working and being. It’s a process I find both exciting and invaluable.
How about you, do you make new year resolutions?
03 January, 2012
Comments
I used to make very high level resolutions but I have made a consious effort to make them more specific in the past few years and I am definitely achieving more of what I want.
I like the hope that comes with resolving to do something by a certain time. I think I’ll always set NY resolutions even if I don’t achieve everything on my list.
Happy New Year, Kathryn.
Oh, you’ve started 2012 in very fine writing form with this excellent post! I’m very inspired by your words. I love your philosophy about resolutions and practical, realistic approach. Yes, rather than making a list on the first of January, why not use the entire month to develop “ideas to live by and a focus for the person I want to be”? It’s a bit like a fast food versus slow food approach to resolution-making, isn’t it?
I could certainly do with a template & am going to try your process. Thank you!
Excellent post, Kathryn! I agree that many people just rush into their resolutions and come up with very general ideas as to what they want. I have already come up with my resolutions, but that may be partly because I’ve been thinking about them even before I started my Christmas shopping! blush I like starting to think about them in December because as the year is winding down, it’s a good time to reflect on the year that has passed and how to make the next even better!
A different take on resolutions but I saw this yesterday and really like this idea -
http://www.sidewalkshoes.com/2012/01/one-little-word-2012.html
Lovely to hear Anna. The more specific goals sometimes feel smaller, less dramatic. However, I agree with you, they are so much more effective. Good luck with you 2012 new year resolutions and I hope it’s a great year for you.
Happy new year Elaine, I actually find it feels quite luxurious to spend a whole month pondering what I want for the year ahead. Plus I always find it’s one of those tasks which needs to go on in the back of my head, for it to really work.
Thinking about it Vincci, I actually suspect my brain starts clicking away at new year resolutions in December, with the thought of the year about to end. Good luck with your resolutions this year.
Oh Wendy I love the one word idea too. Especially as she bought jewellery to remind herself. I’m going to add that thought into my new year resolving process and see if a word comes to me. Thank you for the link.
I wrote about this this morning Kathryn.
For starters it is the wrong time of year in the UK, cold, damp and dark. So I have set the intention to look after and value me, have a watchword of moderation and have set some goals.
I’ll review at Easter when it is spring. It feels like a better time of year.
Hello, again. I’m back to re-read this post & comments as I continue working on my resolutions. I love the suggestion about picking a word. I picked “resilience” as my 2011 word and though I didn’t focus on it as much as I probably should have, it did help me come to terms with some of the challenges I faced. Thanks for the link, Wendy.
Kathryn, your response to my comment is so helpful: “I always find it’s one of those tasks which needs to go on in the back of my head, for it to really work.” Yes! I need to trust that process more.
Love, love this article Kathryn! Will be taking a few tips on board, especially tips 3,4 and 6. I’ll be spending the whole month of Feb on deciding my resolutions (I’m a little behind the 8 ball, but better later than never!)
Happy resolution making,
Lesh
An update – I’ve been working away at my new year resolutions and am currently somewhere between points three and five.
I spent a couple of hours this afternoon writing all my thoughts down. I now have several pages of badly scrawled thoughts and ideas, which I’m going to let marinate overnight and then re-arrange them tomorrow.
I always find this stage interesting because it’s where I start seeing patterns and themes emerge. As I write down my thoughts I find myself repeating the same words, the same basic ideas. For example this year I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about rhythm, patterns and routines, about consistency . They are thoughts which I can apply to aspects of my work, but also to parts of my personal life.
For me this is where the meaty work of resolution setting happens.
Hi Kathryn!
I have only just started reading your wonderful blog! Just thought I would share, I was astonished when I read this particular post – I posted an entry on the same kind of topic, not that long ago, and it’s philosophies are very similar. :)
http://pro-at-crastinating.tumblr.com/post/17987064290/2012-the-year-of-what-you-want-it-to-be
Thanks for your informative advice, will keep reading now that I have just found this page :)
Jana D
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