Looking Back
As we come to a close of another year, thoughts on how the year has been, what you’d planned to do in the year, vis a vis what you have achieved so far, what should be your goals for next year, or if at all you should bother making New Year’s resolutions are top of mind. I’ve in the past canceled making any New Year’s resolutions, but at the back of my mind, the statement “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail", kept ringing in my mind.
How do you choose the resolutions to make?
If you are like (the former) me, you no longer want to associate with New Year’s resolutions because they don’t last or they get forgotten after a short while until the year comes to an end. Perhaps you need to re-look at what your resolutions have entailed in the past. Was it a wish list or was it something you really wanted to achieve? Not because of your friends or life’s expectations, and not because of your family, but for yourself?
Many times when the resolution is not motivating enough, the much-needed energy to do it is easily sapped. On the other hand, when the resolution is too ambitious that it becomes a big struggle, then the motivation to achieve it will also fade away quickly when obstacles arise.
I’m glad to say that my plans (I no longer call them resolutions) for 2022 have largely been achieved.
Part of my plan for this year had been to not be the same person I was at the beginning of the year. I have consistently worked on myself, my thought patterns, and my learning habits. I have been purposeful in learning new things through undertaking online courses, joining a networking group, and actively participating in their activities whenever I can.
Achievements?
As a result, I have managed to blog and created new habits on how I spend my ‘free’ time, by minimizing on time spent watching tv series or social media. I now use that time to build myself, to learn something new. Other new habits picked included getting to listen to audiobooks, reading physical books, and journaling. My book library has grown overly in the course of the year and I have read more books than I had for the past 10 years combined - what a resource I’ve been missing. I’ve also made presentations in a few informal forums, and I think I’ve done myself proud this year.
What next?
I still have a few things I did not achieve and need to relook at in the coming year, but I chose to focus on the positive strides I’ve achieved so far. What positives have you achieved in 2022? It can be as small as having spent more time playing with the children or doing a 10-minute walk every day, or just being able to show up more positively at work.
So what about 2023? As mentioned, I prefer to name my resolutions as plans. Having achieved a little more than I had consciously anticipated in 2022, I plan to take bigger risks and make bigger audacious plans, plans that scare me a little and keep me awake at night but are exciting enough to make me want to do them. Some of the ways I plan to keep myself on track include;
- Create a visual board for my plan - have a pictorial image of what I’d like to achieve to keep reminding me of my plans and to give me the much-needed boost in consistency to achieve them
- Give myself small targets toward the achievement of the overall plan - the longest journey starts with one step. Identify that one step I need to make every day towards the achievement of my plans
- Identify supporting habits - what habits do I need to incorporate to achieve the goals? Do I need to read more, write more, speak more, do I need to wake up earlier, to learn a new skill? Whatever habit will support the achievement of my plan, that would I need to acquire.
- Get external help to keep me accountable and to overcome obstacles - this can be a trusted friend or family member or even a coach. This is one aspect many of us overlook but is key in ensuring you keep yourself on track.
- Identify a motivator for achieving my goal and purpose to keep going even when it seems not to still make sense. This can be as simple as outlining what the achievement of my plans would mean for my life and keeping it within sight as a frequent reminder.
- Invest in me - this is an annual requirement. I need to keep investing in myself, be it in networking, in seminars, in books or self-improvement courses, etc, No one will invest in you, you only have yourself for this
For the coming year, perhaps you might want to consider making a plan by incorporating some of the ideas detailed above.
Any plan is better than no plan. Let’s soar!
