The New Year is just around the corner, as many of us start thinking about our hopes and wishes for the upcoming year with an abundance of New Year’s Resolutions that fizzle out as quickly as they came to be. Mimi Fong shares how you can make a non-New Year’s resolution you will actually stick to.
I’ll be the first to raise my hand and confess that I used to be a sucker for New Year’s Resolutions. Every new year I would declare my intentions for the year ahead, swept up by the hype of the whole ‘New Year, New Start’ movement.
This was my chance to draw a line in the sand, start afresh and finally make this year my own (said with my superhero cape billowing out behind me!). My new year would begin with all these grand plans and Nobel-Prize deserving aspirations…
And then … fizzle.
Like a dud firecracker, what should have been a big boom ends up being a damp squib. Followed by frustration, guilt, blame, then resignation. I guess there’s always next year, right?! And the cycle would begin again.
We know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. So, I’ve decided this year that I’m only going to have one New Year’s Resolution.
You guessed it…my resolution is to get rid of my New Year’s Resolutions!
Why do we make New Year’s Resolutions?
Let’s be brutally honest for a moment. For most of us, New Year’s Resolutions are a token gesture to make you feel good at the beginning of each year. A once-a-year ‘tick the box’ exercise to show the world ‘I know where I’m going, what I want, what I need to achieve’. And as it turned out, none of that was true. So, it should have been no surprise when it bombed every single time.
Until I figured out where I was going wrong. When you make a resolution, it’s not just for the new year. It’s for life. A resolution made once a year based on a calendar date is destined for failure.
Do these resolutions look familiar?
Studies have shown that only 16% of people follow their resolutions. Why? Because they are built on a weak and faulty foundation. They’re not set up to support a sustainable behaviour change and fuel ongoing motivation, which are crucial to transforming ideas into action.
Think about the last time you made New Year’s Resolutions and why they failed. Was it because they were unrealistic and hard to keep track of? Perhaps you made too many? Or you didn’t have the time or resources? Or perhaps your motivation took a dive and then you simply abandoned them? It’s a vicious cycle.
Because once they fail, they turn you into a cynic and sceptic. A non-believer. And it’s that lack of belief that leads to lack of fulfilment.
4 tips to make a non-New Year’s Resolution
1. Ditch the idea of a New Year’s Resolution.
Instead, commit to not making a resolution on the 1st of January every year. Because why should a commitment to make a change in your life be dependent on this one calendar date?
2. Ask yourself what change you want to make and why you want to make this change?
Dig deep on this one.
For example, if the change you want to make is a financial one, like increasing your business income to $X a month, then ask yourself what is motivating you to do this? The obvious answer might be relieving the financial pressure on your household, and whilst that is a strong motivator, I want you to go even further than that.
Connect it to something you can move towards and which is meaningful to you. What would having those extra dollars allow you to do? Will it give you greater freedom of lifestyle, so you only need to work 4 days a week instead of 5 days? Which means you get to spend more quality time with your family and friends, or free you up to volunteer for a cause that’s close to your heart. Or will it enable you to travel a few times a year to places on your bucket list? Or if you’re like me and love a bit of food and retail therapy, it could be as simple as having more guilt free self-care time, so you can eat out with friends and spend money on luxury items and services without worrying about being on a budget?
When you come up with your answers, notice how you feel and the intensity of your emotions. The stronger and more positive they are, the higher the motivating factor. And it’s this motivating factor that provides the fuel for your actions. Action that’s inspired!
3. Ask yourself… what are your greatest fears about making this change?
What is in the way of you making this happen? I suggest you start with examining your beliefs. What do you believe about yourself that is standing in your way of success?
It’s those beliefs that will hold you back and stop you from doing what it takes to make it happen, and once you know this, you can take the steps to proactively overcome them.
4. Act from the heart and take inspired action.
When you act from the heart, you are doing things with a purpose rather than doing it for the sake of doing them. When you act from the heart, you give your hundred percent, and you get unparalleled results. When you take inspired action, you are fully aligned and everything flows. When you take inspired action, it’s effortless, meaningful and impactful.
Think about a time when you believed in something so passionately and strongly that you took massive action and achieved massive results…Everything flowed and no obstacle was too big to overcome, right?
This was because you had a clear Vision and Purpose, and your actions were inspired by what was held in your heart and aligned with what’s important to you and this is what underpins your resolve.
Back to the New Year’s Resolutions.
A futile exercise done once a year at the same time each year, because we feel we have to. So, no more. If you want to resolve to make a change in your life, don’t wait for January. Start now. Because a resolution is not just for the new year…it’s for life.
Special Offer
If you need help with making your non-New Year’s Resolutions, you can chat with Mimi over a virtual cup of coffee for 20 minutes. Get crystal clear on what you want and the exact steps to make it happen. Click here to book a time now. Limited spots available.
You can also download Mimi Fong’s free E-Book ‘Live And Experience The Life You Deserve By Recognising And Overcoming Your Limiting Belief’.
