Why we don’t set New Year’s resolutions and what we plan on doing instead?
As 2016 comes to a close… talk naturally turns to 2017 and our new year ‘resolutions’ to do better and achieve more in various aspects of our lives. Did you know that 88% of those resolutions will fail? WT*?
It is natural that we all aspire to do more and be better… and we are ALL about self-improvement and goal setting, but if our resolutions are so fraught- how can we do it?
Do you often plan to get fitter; to be more lean and strong; to be slimmer; to be more organized; work neater; to be a better friend; or to be a more present parent? That is great! But if NY resolutions don’t work, how can we achieve it and how would we even measure these to know if we’ve succeeded?
Remember, we’ve said it all before – small things do make a BIG difference. So… let’s start small…
First of all, examine where you might be falling short in your everyday life – is it with exercise, your nutrition, or is it your friendships, your relationship with your mum, spending quality time with your children, or focus on work projects? For me – one of my biggest standouts is our home admin. I can be a real procrastinator and the home admin is something that I do not enjoy. However, it is a cause of constant grief between my husband and I, as I am responsible for keeping on top of our admin/ paperwork/ bills etc at home and to be honest – it is not organised. I am never ENTIRELY sure where things are when we need them – some things are filed, some are not, some are even scanned and saved, but not all of them….. it’s a mess. But, I am determined to get on top of this in 2017. This has actually been on my list for improvements each year for the last couple of years and I am no better off!! So, what do I do?
Remember? Start small. We challenge you to choose a small, explicit and measurable action that you can do, achieve and hold yourself accountable to complete – every time – and that there is NO ambiguity around – easy, right? Yes!
Personally, I am committing to a very small action that I know that I am capable of completing EVERY time, but will make a big difference to me beginning to get organized with our home admin. I am going to open our mail when it arrives and immediately file the contents into one of three folders, according to the action required – To Pay, To File, To Action. The other mail will go straight in the bin. Done.
Sounds really simple right? It is! But, I am embarrassed to say, I don’t do this – I sometimes open the mail in the kitchen and the contents might reside on the bench for a few days. Other times mail is opened at my desk and it goes in the folders. Other times it might sit on my bench un-opened for a week!! It is not consistent and hence, I am never quite sure where I am at with things and sometimes, vital correspondence is lost.
But, what about you? You might want to start with something like:
NO refined sugar for breakfast on Mondays and Tuesdays; Get up early to exercise, every Tuesday morning at 530am; Only snack on food that I have bought from home, to work (bye bye processed snacks!); Only drink wine on weekends (cutting out the cheeky afternoon wine while prepping kids’ dinner); Reply to friend’s emails within one day.
It is important that the action is small, achievable and you see this small commitment through, each and every time. It is rewarding EVERY time you complete the action as this has been an area that you have been struggling with, right? Your confidence grows and you become better at completing the action without thinking (it is becoming habitual).
Once this small action becomes habit (and only then!), you can add in your next small change. For me, it might be ‘emptying my To Pay folder every Thursday’. These actions might seem small but can you see how you start to build a routine around them? And don’t forget, every action, no matter how small, does make a big difference. Imagine, if you can stick to these small changes, develop new habits, a more productive routine, where you could be in 12 months’ time? It is pretty exciting, right?
You might be tempted to start with a whole lot of little actions, as it all sounds so easy! I was. But don’t. Start with only one or two – these are areas that you have been struggling with, right? It is not going to be easy. Start small and commit. Then move forward. Take it slow and the results will be better.
Go ahead- what will your first commitment to action be? Make sure that you Join our Community here on the site and follow us on Instagram, as we will continue to post updates for you on ours in the coming weeks/ months so that you can keep us accountable too.
If you want further inspiration here – get yourself a copy of “Small Move, Big Change” by Caroline Arnold. It’s brilliant. ?
Good luck,
Anna & Em xo
