Have you ever considered what Resolution actually means? Resolve, determination, tenacity, purpose, perseverance.
January is a time for new beginnings and transitions. The Roman god, Janus, is often depicted as having two faces, one looking forwards and one looking backwards. Actually this is a really important aspect when setting resolutions or goals. Too often we don't consider past attempts which haven't been successful, and why that happened, when we set new ones........or the same ones, again and again.
If you've never succeeded with the same fitness or nutrition approach, why resolve to do it that way again? What stopped you from succeeding last time? What do you need in order to make it a success in 2016?
When I work with people, the very first thing we establish is a well formed outcome. This involves questioning the ecology of the goal, and by that I mean how well it sits with the sense of self, how much time is available, a strategy for success, what might stop us in our tracks and a clear vision of what the client will see, feel and hear when the outcome has been achieved.
We are all busy people. Who isn't these days? So taking on a new activity which swamps your diary isn't going to last long is it? What time can you reasonably spare without it impacting on something else which is a priority? Work with someone to create a strategy for your outcome which enables you to succeed with the resources you already have or can easily access.
There's a final element to successful resolutions, and that's habit. I've recently taken up meditation. So I've not only had to find the time, I've found the time of day, and then repeated the activity daily so that it becomes part of my routine. It becomes the norm instead of the exception. And that transition that January is all about occurs. You move from exception into business as normal. There's a great quote about habit: What you do every day matters more than what you do every once in a while.
If you've set a New Year's Resolution which is already a challenge, revisit your strategy so that 2016 is the year of successful resolutions.
