Go On, You Can Do It In This New Year!

I hadn’t planned to travel earth’s annual orbit of the sun in last year’s new year resolution, but according to my Fitbit, my step count was kind of close. Really? Close to over 940 million kilometres? I don’t think so.

However at least I achieved part of my objective to regularly monitor my movement, step count and eating habits, none of which were particularly bad compared to others, it seems.

I didn’t call it a resolution, more of a plan to improve my overall health and fitness to assist with the aging process.  I would like to live a long, independent life if possible, as there is much to do.

Reflection helps

For many of us, the beginning of a new year seems to be a time when we tend to reflect and ask ourselves what we have achieved in the year gone by.

Some will say they have achieved nothing yet if everyone gives themselves half a chance and allocates time to slow down now the Boxing Day sales are out of the way, I am certain we will find something. It doesn’t have to be big and needn’t be dramatic. This is where you say “good on you me”.

In 2017, I wrote about “Why it is better to consider a resolution than none as all” with tips to assist making your resolutions.  In 2018, “Dealing with new year blues” on, reflection, kindness, gratefulness and not rushing with your resolutions. Guess what, these haven’t changed as we move into another year and continue to be relevant.

Decide what’s next and capture it

So what do you think is in store for you in 2019?  What plans do you have? Have you even thought about it?

Personally, for this new year I have made one major resolution and the rest of my thoughts will be transcribed onto my MS Excel spreadsheet.  I’m one of these people who likes to have a list in place that captures a variety of things to achieve such as home maintenance tasks, acquire new skills, studies, community work, lots of things actually.  It is ongoing, a WIP (Work In Progress), as is life. I gain a wonderful sense of satisfaction when I am finally in a position to type in Completed, even on the small tasks.

I have another spreadsheet dedicated to finances and my spending habits. It was the best thing my financial advisor instructed me to do a number of years ago. I discovered the true meaning of full disclosure. Be prepared and don’t go into shock is all I can say!!

Perhaps that could be your resolution, capture your wish list on a spread sheet and if you are not computer savvy, a good old pen and paper works well, even better a dedicated note book. Don’t forget to include approximate achievement dates and apply Low Medium High priorities to every task. I find that writing things down makes it more achievable.

The value of your choice

Making resolutions or “a” resolution does not have to be complicated. To put it simply, we are creatures of habit and change involves changing that habit and routine. It comes down to your mental attitude and behaviour. The desire to change an old habit and the desire to improve oneself.   We all agree it is not easy, but if that change is valuable enough to you, then you have a higher probability of achieving a positive outcome.

Don’t make your barriers too big. Smaller incremental goals make things easier to track and before you know it, the accumulation of these small goals end up in one large positive outcome.

The whole is the sum of the parts, so let’s begin with a small part in this big new year.