Have you ever had a surge of inspiration in January, and set a resolution for every area of your life, only to slump with disappointment in March when you realise you haven’t achieved any of them?
To avoid this common pitfall, first remember that imbedding a resolution into your life is less like launching a rocket and more like making a stair-case, it begins with the building the very first step. To help you to stay on track and guarantee you see your intentions through, try the following steps:
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- Focus: which three areas of your life would really benefit from a resolution and what would those resolutions be?
- Prioritise: which single resolution do you have the most energy for? This is where you should start. You can pick up the others later in the year once you have success with the resolution closest to your heart.
- Refine: set an achievable resolution and be very specific. Write a paragraph describing all the positive impacts of the resolution as if it has already been achieved.
- Replace: if you are giving something up, what are you going to do instead? Resolutions are about changing choices.
- Prepare: what are the micro- steps that you need to take to successfully meet your resolution? Be as specific as possible.
- Plan: create a time-line. What do you need to do in the next hour, every day, once a week and every month to succeed? For example, if you want to do more of something, do something towards it within 60 mins to move it from a thought into an action straight away.
- Practise: don’t just talk about doing something, do it and keep practising until it feels natural and you are in flow.
- Journal: acknowledge your effort and if you stumble coach yourself back on track.
- Review: make regular appointments with yourself to review how it’s going and adjust where needed. How can you support yourself even better?
- Celebrate your success: assume you will succeed and plan to mark your success in a way that is meaningful for you.
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Good luck!
Nicola Dunn has worked as solution-focussed and family constellations therapist for over 25 years. She has a particular interest in using the constellations method to support positive change in people’s lives and also teaches and runs family and personal constellations workshops.
For more on Nicola Dunn visit www.nicoladunnconstellations.com