Why Making New Year’s Resolutions is a Waste of Your Time

A brand new year is almost here and the daylight hours are getting longer again.

As usual at this time of year thoughts turn to making New Year Resolutions.

Have you made any yet?

Because did you know that by the end of January only about 10% of people are succeeding at keeping their resolutions?

Most people struggle with them for a few weeks, make themselves miserable and then lapse back into old habits.

I know because I’ve done it and I’m sure you know someone who has as well.

So why do people make these resolutions ?

It is usually because there is some aspect of their business or life that they want to change for the better.

For many the resolution is not to do something, for example “I’m not going to get wound up again when X doesn’t turn up for the meeting,” or “ I’m not going to spend my holiday time looking at emails” but this means that instead of focusing on the great benefits that they will achieve, they focus on what they don’t want to do and they end up doing it!

And that’s why 90% of resolutions fail within 30 days of setting them.

Now you might be thinking “what has this got to do with developing as a leader?”

But did you set any New Year’s Resolutions last year ?

How often do you decide that you are going to do things differently?

Or do you just hope that things somehow will be better this year?

And how can you make sure that you get the results you want to get?

The key lies in that word ‘resolution’. When we make these promises to ourselves, we should drop the ‘re’ bit of the word and concentrate on the ‘solution’.

Instead of thinking about re-solutions, think about solutions. Be really clear about what it is that you want.

Think about how your life will look, feel and sound when you have got it.

Instead of thinking about what you may be giving up, think about what you will gain.

And make sure that the change you are making is for the right reasons.

Are you doing it because it is going to make a real difference to you or are you doing it because you think you should, or someone expects you to, or you want to impress others?

Because if it is going to succeed it has to be important to you and make a substantial difference to you when you achieve it.

How to get more of what you want…

The initial step to getting more of what you want easily is to decide specifically what it is that you do want.

And the first step to making change happen is to write down what you want and give the ideas physical form because if you don’t write down what you want it’s not a solution, it’s just a nice thought.

If you are serious about increasing your level of success you need to start right now to do things differently and I would encourage you to take some time to answer the following questions and write down your responses.You may find it useful to keep them in a notebook.

Now I know that you’re probably going to say that you don’t have time to do it and that’s exactly why you need to!

• What is it that you most want to change?
• What do you want instead?
• What do you want specifically?
• How will you know you’ve got it?
• What will this outcome get for you or allow you to do?
• For what purpose do you want this?
• What difference will it make to you when you have achieved it?

Taking time to consider your answers to the questions means that you’re beginning to think in a new way and the more this happens the more you will change the results you are getting. When you then share this with others you become more accountable for your results which means that you will take yourself and your leadership to the next level more quickly than before.

In the next post I’ll show you How To Get Less of What You Don’t Want so that 2021 is your best year yet!

If you are really serious about changing your results and want help to kick start your success in 2021 then click here  to contact me about the Creating Momentum Personal Coaching Sessions I am running in Jan.

Until next time,

Cath

Cath Daley