I am making new year resolutions by setting goals for 2015 but a number of my friends have said they’re not bothering. Their reason tends to be either they cannot contemplate adding more demands at a time when their life is so busy or that they’ve tried in the past and failed and they fear they’ll do the same again. This might save them from getting their hopes up and avoid possible disappointment but at the cost of living an unfulfilled half-hearted life. Others are too overwhelmed to focus on what is important. May be I can get them to reconsider and encourage them and you to join me by starting 2015 with purpose and intention. For without resolutions or the setting of goals for 2015 we are in danger of spending the year wandering and blown where the wind (life’s pressures) takes us and finish no closer to fulfilling our dreams at year end than when it started. We are unlikely to just drift to our desired destination.
Yes; I’ve heard the statistics and I know that 25% of new years resolutions won’t last a week and after 6 months only 40% will be continuing. I’ve heard that the average person makes the same new year resolution ten times without success. Still I believe that goal setting is a worthwhile exercise it’s just that we need to approach it differently.
The beginning of a new year establishes a natural rhythm for reflection and preparation. I shall start by setting aside some time to dream ( to envision ) what the year could bring and what I could achieve. I’ll go somewhere where I wont be distracted and which I find stimulates me. I’ll review the achievements of the past year and consider what I need to learn from anything that didn’t go to plan but I wont let past disappointments stop me from having fresh excitement and vision. I will also ask myself what needs to be stopped and taken out of my diary for 2015.
To stimulate my thoughts I will remind myself of the things that are important to me in my life and the values by which I have determined I will live my life. In this way the resolutions or goals that I set myself for 2015 will be linked to what is most important to me. I will be clear not just what the goal is but why it is important to me. I can easily imagine how achieving the goal will contribute to these important things and how this will feel. Also what I will lose if I don’t achieve my goal. In this way the goals I set myself will be compelling and very specific and capable of measurement. Some goals might be suitable to break down into steps to be completed by different times during the year. I will be able to assess how I’m doing along the journey. Celebrating regular progress towards achieving the goal is rewarding and motivational. Fulfilment is as much about the journey as the destination.
My goals will cover all areas of my life spiritual, business. family, health & fitness, personal development and charity/voluntary work. Because they will be directly linked to those things which I have previously identified as important to me this will help me throughout the year to say “no”. No to other activities which whilst attractive will not contribute to achieving the most important things. Each month I will measure my progress towards each goal. Constant progress towards a meaningful goal will spur me on. Where a goal is not on track the gap shows where I need to give more attention, effort or willpower. Reviewing progress at regular intervals causes me to keep the resolution fresh and enables me to adjust what I’m doing.
2015 presents a year full with possibilities. I can choose to make different decisions in 2015 from those I made last year. What am I going to do differently in 2015 that will make this a fulfilling and rewarding year? Why not join me and answer these questions for yourself and set goals for 2015 strongly connected to your life priorities. Goals about which you are clear why you are doing them and how they link with what’s important to you. Goals which you can measure progress towards achieving. Happy 2015.
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