Another year is drawing to a close. Every year, people resolve to be better than the year before. Resolutions are made and broken. Instead of improving, people become frustrated. They should start having a mindset shift about this. Listing unrealistic goals or things that they need to change does not work. Many people can prove this. There are many better strategies for seeing a positive change in your life.
Strategy 1: Rest
Do you feel guilty in indulging yourself in a mattress sale in Salt Lake City? Do you question yourself if you have time to use it with a long list of things that you need to do? In the harried life of people, they set big goals and resolutions. But they forget themselves. One new way of approaching the year ahead is to commit to more rest. This may seem counterintuitive to reaching goals. But most people move in all directions trying to achieve things. The result is that they accomplish nothing except for being exhausted.
Resting does not mean sleeping for the whole day, though. It means knowing when to step back when life becomes stressful. Find time for yourself every day. Do something that you love and that will help you recharge yourself and regroup your thoughts. When you do this, you have more drive and a clearer mind to reach your goals.
Strategy 2: Sum It up in Three Words
A long list of resolutions will probably not help you, nor a single but vague one. At most, it will overwhelm and frustrate you because you cannot deliver. A good strategy is the three-word resolution. In a nutshell, it is thinking of three words that will guide your actions and intentions.
For example, this year, you might want to interact better with the people around you. Your three words can be SAVE, TREAT, GIVE. From these words, you can start to:
- save (or keep intact) the reputation of others by not gossiping
- save your time and health by not reacting harshly
- treat someone to cheer them up
- treat others as you would like to be treated
- give random acts of kindness
- give others the benefit of the doubt
You can add along as you go and as you see fit. Be imaginative about how to relate the words to what you want to achieve. Write these words somewhere visible to remind you. Say it to yourself every day.
Strategy 3: Divide It in Daily or Weekly Bits
Most people do well with their resolutions only a few weeks after the New Year. To avoid such a scenario, try to have daily or weekly intentions, instead. If you aim to be healthy, devise different ways to achieve this every day. For example, on Monday, you will use the stairs instead of the elevator. On Tuesday, you will cut back on your sweets, and so on. You can repeat some goals by next week or make new ones. By the end of the year, in a way, you will have achieved small habits to keep yourself healthy.
Also, by having daily goals, you will be motivated and challenged to start your day. You will be eager to see if you can achieve what you are set to do. At the end of each day, you get to celebrate small victories. This will make your life less complicated and happier.
The desire to change is good. But the process of change should not drain all the energy in you. Breathe and take it one step at a time.
