How are you stepping into your 2018 goals? Start with last year’s.
Most experts say that we quit our New Years’ resolutions (NYRs) within the month of January. I think we place a lot of weight – no pun intended – on January 1 being the start of our “whole new me.” Our bodies don’t really know that it’s January 1. It’s just another day to our health.
So right now it’s mid-December. We’re starting to negotiate with ourselves.
“I’m going to park myself beside this chocolate fountain because starting January 1, it’s a whole new me.”
“I’ll cut back on dairy and grains after January 1 because I’m going to so many family dinners that I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
Or even…
“I’m going to join the gym on January 1, but I’m going to start January 15 because it’s going to be so crowded in the first two weeks because of NYRs and I don’t want anyone to see me.”
Look at that last one. WE KNOW that NYRs fail! Yet we still make them! We are the most clever, talented, heartfelt, creative, emotional, and illogical beasts on the planet!
Okay. I’m not going to fight this particular tide. But what I am going to do is to make a suggestion: If you want to know how to stick to your NYRs this year, you have to start with two things: your “why,” and last year.
Look backward.
Que the time machine. Look back to this time in December of 2016. Besides the obvious sociopolitical changes (don’t look back at the politics right now; you’re going to turn to salt!), you had an ideal for yourself that you were going to go get!
Did you?
What were your wins?
Mark down your successes. What were your goals for 2017 that you actually made happen? Type or write them down. What were you able to tick off your list? What changes did you create that actually came to pass?
Once you get this down, make an inventory of the conditions, both inner and outer, that allowed this change for yourself. How did you do it? Where did you find the strength to make it happen? Who helped you? What helped you?
Now think about these wins. How do they make you feel when you think about them? Accomplished? Proud? Draw on that good feeling and use it for setting your goals for 2018.
Write this down: Success breeds success. The feelings the success you have over the accomplishments of this past year is crucial to creating your success in 2018.
What did you not do?
Take a look at what goals that you failed to accomplish in 2017.
Take a good, loving, honest look at them.
Did you fail because you just stopped trying? Did you set them too big? Did you believe that they could happen? Did they feel too hard to do, or did you feel like you weren’t up to the task?
Maybe it was something else. Did something change in your world that had to take priority? Were you faced with challenges that called your energy away from the task you set for yourself before the challenge?
Maybe it wasn’t time.
Maybe your innate intelligence told you that the goals you didn’t accomplish in 2017 were goals that actually had to be put aside until the proper time.
Maybe you had to take care of a health challenge before you could take on the goal you set for yourself. It might be that you did the right thing by putting it off. Maybe you and your body just wasn’t ready this year.
In any case, if you are quiet and really give yourself time to listen to that inner voice, your inner voice will be honest with you. Your innate intelligence will deliver the truth if you give it the honor it needs to speak to your inner self.
When you finally come up with the answers, write them them down so you can look at them. This will help you clarify how to craft your goals for 2018, and help you look for pitfalls to your future success.
Above all else, be patient with yourself.
Adopting a lifestyle in which you honor your body and spirit takes mental practice. You can’t be expected to learn to play the piano in two weeks. Give yourself the emotional room to make an honest commitment to your goals.
Have a blessed holiday week!
