Forget About New Year's Resolutions – Here's a Different Approach!

Aren’t you giddy with excitement about the New Year? Or do you cringe in a corner, hiding under a blanket by the fire, groaning, “Life sucks!”

Imagine, 360 glorious days in which to do remarkable things, to have a phenomenal year! Or not.

Traditionally and habitually (and perhaps superstitiously) we make New Year’s resolutions year after year, only to, by the end of January, have forgotten about most of them. Oh, we have the best intentions. We tell ourselves, this time, this year, it will be different. But, resolutions will come to nothing and everything will remain the same unless we put in place something that works.

5 Steps that can make all the difference:

1 | You need a plan of action.

• Take small actionable steps.
• Then write them down.
• You need an accountability partner.
• Set a deadline. Divide your year into four 90-day chunks
• It will be less overwhelming. It will be easier to achieve.
• If you experienced failures in 2017 (haven’t we all?), these new plans need to be different—otherwise, you cannot expect a different outcome.
• Don’t go it alone. Reach out. You need others to succeed. Learn how to network more effectively. Build lasting relationships.
• Don’t underestimate the value of real-life friends in addition to virtual (online) friends.
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2 | Commitment

• Yes, action is required.
• Be intentional. Do at least ONE thing every day that takes you closer to reaching your 90-day goal.
• It is hard work. Unless you commit, show up every morning, and do the work, nothing will be different on Dec 31, 2018, compared to today.
• Be consistent. (It will bear fruit.)
• Discover the secret of taking the NEXT STEP.

3 | Courage

• Do what you fear.
• It’s a myth that the brave are without fear. To start afresh demands courage.
• It requires courage to get up when you fail. Courage to not quit. Courage to keep going.
• It requires courage to take risks
• Most certainly there are risks involved. Most certainly there is uncertainty involved in leaving the safety of the harbor.
• But, you will never conquer your Everest if you remain in Base Camp.
• Step outside your comfort zone. It is the only way muscles grow and get stronger. You need the courage to push yourself.

4 | Compassion and Caring

• According to the dictionary, it is a deep awareness of the suffering and trouble of another coupled with the desire to relieve it
• Compassion involves placing other’s interest above our own
• We lose compassion the day we allow assertiveness to turn into arrogance. Don’t confuse the two.
• Compassion comes in many forms and shapes: it can be the time we give, offering an ear, showing respect and acknowledging someone, giving a helping hand, sometimes intervening in a situation, sometimes it involves giving money. Often, “being there,” suffices.
• Compassion also involves self-care: physical, emotional, intellectual & spiritual. It is impossible to (effectively) take care of others if we do not take care of ourselves.
• Get and stay in shape. Lifelong fitness is not a myth.
• Eat sensibly. (Mediterranean dietary content, plant-based, high in healthy fats, low glycemic index foods. Limit red meat & dairy products.)
• Remember, it’s not about a diet—it’s about a lifestyle.
• Get enough sleep.
• Don’t isolate yourself. Take care of friends & family.
• Make new friends. Avoid toxic relationships.
• Give of yourself. Yes, we’re talking about small sacrifices.
• Read something truthful, uplifting, funny and sweet every day.
• Learn something new every day

5 | Faith

• Faith is a confident belief in truth, in trustworthiness. In this case, in an Almighty God.
• When Moses left Egypt, leading the Israelites, following four hundred years of captivity under the Pharaohs, he required faith. He refused to be afraid of the King’s anger, and kept going because he “kept his eye on the invisible God.” (Heb. 11: 27)
• Even if we do everything else, take every step, make provision for every contingency—we still need faith. So many things we do every day are based on faith, without us realizing it.
• Our words, our vocabulary matters. Words are powerful. If we speak hopelessness and despair, rest assure—it will come to pass. Our words matter. Speak life. Speak truth. Don’t merely “tell it as it is,” adding to the hurt and brokenness of the world, but “tell it as it could be, as it should be.”
• I’m a supporter of actionable faith—not merely a “hope for the best.” Faith is more than mere gratitude; it is thanking God in advance for the outcome as you cast away from shore.

Why does any of this matter?

Because it will determine how 2018 will turn out for you, to a large extent.

Yes, over certain things in life we have little control.

What are your goals for 2018?

How will people talk about you by December 31st? That you own a Forbes 500 company? That you earn seven figures monthly? That you’re a Pulitzer Prize winner? That you’re a New York Times bestseller author? That you’re the President & CEO of your company? That you have > 200,000 followers on social media?

Or, will people remember that you cared?

It is strong men and women that show compassion to their fellow men; especially to the ones who cannot promote their social standing or financial status or return the favor.