We are months away from the end of this year and, it is very likely that your January resolutions have already been abandoned. But, that doesn't mean you have to put them off until next year. Believe it or not, now is the perfect time to return to all those goals you set for yourself and develop a plan to close this 2020 with a flourish.
1.- Write all the resolutions that you left abandoned this year (or previous years)
Do not feel guilt or remorse, just write down all that you wanted for yourself but for some reason you did not achieve.
2.- Choose only one to take action during these months
It is difficult to select just one, but remember that we have just time to take action. Also, we don't want you to become saturated with goals that you can't meet, because if you fail, the effect will be the opposite of what we want to achieve.
So just underline one of those purposes, the one that is most important to you or motivates you the most right now, there are no wrong answers!
3.- Specify your year-end resolution
Our goal in this step is to be clear about what our purpose is about.
Things like "lose weight" either "do exercise" they don't give our brain an action to follow. It is better to have clear purposes how "go for a walk" either “dinner green salads” I explain?
It is also important not to be too ambitious. It's okay to want to aim for the best, but remember that having a goal that's too difficult to achieve sets you back instead of moving forward.
Most long term change happens slowly, change is a process, not an event.
These questions can help you have a concrete and realistic purpose:
- What action are you willing to take today to begin with that purpose?
- Can you write that goal much more specifically?
- Is there a way to turn that purpose into something more "actionable"?
- Can it be divided into several stages or steps to follow?
- Is there something simpler and easier you can start with?
4.- Define when, how and where you will take action to be very clear
This helps to know exactly what to do, avoid postponing and above all to know if you really are constant.
For example:
– I exercise in my living room for 7 minutes
– I meditate for 10 minutes (or less) at my desk before work
– I read 6 pages of my book before sleeping
Some tips to keep in mind:
- Don't think about your goal but actually write it down to increase your commitment
- Do not use words like "I must do" or "I have to do", instead write "I want to do"
- Write your purpose in the present tense and not in the future
5.- At the end of the year, review, evaluate and adjust
This time when the end of the year arrives, you will do things differently because instead of just proposing new goals, you will have to review what you have achieved in the previous months.
If you did not manage to be constant or you did not achieve what you set out to do, there is no problem. Yes, you read right.
New Year will be the perfect time to adjust and redefine your goal. Perhaps it was too challenging and you need to start small, change the schedule, break it down into more subtasks, or define your goal in more detail.
If you managed to make progress with your year-end resolution, good time! January will be a good starting point to make this goal something more ambitious and challenging or to start with something new.
In both cases you should feel proud because you took advantage of the last months of the year to do something good for yourself, you did not resign yourself to ending the year with unfinished goals, but you took action and that is something really to be admired.
Remember that when it comes to new beginnings and goals, this month is the new January.
You don't need to wait until the new year to take action, the best time to start is now!
taken from habitually.com
