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In Praise Of Sunrises: Why Not To Make New Year’s Resolutions

Forbes Coaches Council

Entrepreneur, philanthropist and international speaker. Regan Hillyer is here to help you make a bigger impact.

Invariably I am asked by my clients at this stage of a new year whether I make, have made and more importantly keep, New Year’s resolutions, and usually, they are curious to know just what they are.

To be frank, I am not a fan of simply seeing a new year turn and making a raft of resolutions that are often vague and usually in the realm of "I must..." or "I intend to..." or "I am going to..."

In this situation, I ask my clients, “Why would you choose an event that is on the back of a customary festival and in a holiday break to necessarily make life-changing decisions and break habits of a lifetime?”

They will usually say that it is tradition that one chooses this time, the turn of a new year, to usher in this new year, and a new "them" and a new way of living their lives.

And invariably their new year resolutions are around the old foes of weight loss, exercise, relationships, money and sometimes even career change. They are prefaced with "This year, I am going to change my..." (You fill in the gap.) Mostly they are simply "wishes" for a new, more desirable and better life and are not backed up with any rational thought, planning or conscious intention.

Changing habits that are ingrained, making career and relationship changes and reviewing attitudes to money are not things that should be taken lightly. Even the "get fit" and "lose weight" resolutions require conscious planning, dedicated effort and often a change to one’s daily routine that is frequently based around career demands, maybe a commute, presence in the office or even a work-from-home routine defined by others’ demands, colleagues, meetings, clients, family needs and the work environment.

The resolution can be prefaced with "less"—i.e., a determination to do "less" of whatever the habit or desired change might be. Whatever the desired change is, you can be sure that a simple saying of “This is the year that I will change my /do less of/ give up...” will not do it, and any changes made in the heat of the New Year’s Eve celebrations will soon either be forgotten, found to be unsustainable/unworkable or simply discarded as impossible to bring into effect.

So how do you make a resolution and keep it? How do you bring desired change into your life and sustain it?

Personally, rather than a once-a-year event for change and betterment in your life, I regard every sunrise as an opportunity for change. Every new day provides an opportunity to set aside the time to effect what changes you wish to permanently bring into your life and routine.

Here are a few simple steps and suggestions that I give to my clients to facilitate kicking off the process to make real and sustainable changes in their lives.

Those of you who know me well, know that I am a huge fan of starting each day with the tool of journaling, both for business and in my personal life. And I have written an accessible how-to article with practical steps and guidelines for getting started and sustaining this valuable practice for life.

• Start with daily journaling about what it is that you want to change. My advice is to choose one aspect of your life that you wish to change at a time. Don't scattergun your desires. You may, in fact, find that one major change facilitates a raft of other changes to occur, that even though you originally saw them as individual issues needing attention, they are all interrelated.

• Get super clear on what it actually is that you want to change. Be honest with yourself. Actively visualize and meditate around seeing and bringing this change into your reality. This need only be a few minutes each day that you can bring into your routine that is time well spent. However, like any change in routine, this must also not fall by the wayside or become a victim to "I'm too busy...” or “I simply don't have the time to...” Ensure you make time and keep this routine sacred and unmissable. Your "you" time.

• And when you have a clear path mapped out (which may not happen instantly; you may have to persevere), this is the time to journal around taking affirmative action. Ask yourself, “What are the considered, thought-out, affirmative-action steps that I need to take to bring into my reality what I desire?”

These may be connecting with a person or people who can assist and support you to take these steps. It may be that you need to take a technical course to upskill or enroll in a program to assist with your personal development and self-confidence, or find and engage a mentor, life coach or support person to assist in facilitating your journey to effecting this change.

• Look around you as well. Who are you associating with and who are the catalysts for supporting your change? Who are the associates who are effectively keeping you from making change because it suits their purposes to have you not change or disrupt their life choices? It may be a colleague or manager who wishes to keep you in your role so as to make their life easier. Be realistic; sometimes I encourage my clients to be ruthless in their assessment of the community that surrounds them.

Remember that the road to change is not straightforward and requires clarity of thought and dedication. So in praise of sunrises, treat yourself to getting up to view a few and remember that every single day is an opportunity for enacting change in your life, for the better.


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