And what’s 2022 going to bring after the chaos of the last 18 months?
WHAT IS AHEAD FOR 22?
As we say goodbye to the year that was and welcome in the New Year, our thoughts and attention turn to the inevitable questions, ‘What will this year bring? Will it be less disruptive than the last? Are we safe to now turn our back on all the difficulties and challenges that have gone before?’ What have we learnt during the extreme scenarios that we all had to deal with in the year now ending?
There’s no better time than the start of a New Year to get thinking about what we want to bring into this year and give our traditional resolutions a shake-up and a revamp. Setting New Year resolutions is an incredibly powerful way to create some big changes and shifts in life. We all know that the trouble is we start with good intentions and then somehow, they can fall away, and we drift back into old patterns and habits of before. Many people face failure with their resolutions before they even start and are reluctant to even bother setting more year after year.
It is worth setting resolutions and this is a great time to do it. Here’s a guide to everything you need to know – the rules of making resolutions and tips on how to keep them. You’ll find a list of the 10 resolutions that everyone should make to change their world for the better. Have a go with a new zeal. This is your year to do some amazing things. Make the year when the going gets great and you turn the transformative times into your favour!
Why New Year resolutions are important
Setting goals and objectives is one of the major keys in the process of making powerful and positive change. When we make resolutions, our mind takes on this focus and helps us get creative in achieving them – the simple act of setting an intention gives us such a turbo boost from the inside that we get a new motivation and enhanced power to bring these changes in. Research shows that once we set an intention with a firm belief we can do it, there is an 85% more of a chance we can achieve these ambitions than if we doubt ourselves. You must believe in yourself, your will power – you can do it!
Here are the top 10 New Year resolutions that everyone should make
1. Spend more time with friends and family – work at all your cherished friendships and give more.
2. Pay yourself first – give yourself 10% each month into a savings account from your earnings and then pay everyone else after that. Organise your income into sections including this savings plan.
3. Plan to do something out of your comfort zone at least once a week.
4. Make regular goals – do it regularly. Commit to monthly vision boarding and intention setting.
5. Declutter your space, have less, cook more, live more.
6. Reduce 3 stress points from your life – such as unhealthy habits, too much sugar, alcohol, toxic friends.
7. Have more fun and live every day like it matters.
8. Mind focus – think better thoughts, throw out negativity, think about what you do want.
9. Body focus – commit to more care of your body, health, and nutrition. Take on a new exercise plan which gets your moving regularly.
10. Soul focus – boost activities to connect with you with your inner world such as meditation, silent walking in nature, mindfulness, quiet time and contemplation. When we connect with the inner world, we power up our health, spirit and connection with nature and the universe.
How to make powerful resolutions
Firstly, write down a list of things you would like to bring in or change this year. There are no limits and go out of your comfort zone as much as you can. Get really clear about what you want. Once you have your list, go back through it and re-order it into priorities. Next edit it so that it is accurate, clear and with detail. Make sure it’s ultimately achievable and take off anything you’re not committed to. Keep the list real and make it important.
10 Rules for resolutions:
1. List out your resolutions making them specific and clear. If you want to lose weight – how much weight? If you are reducing your drinking – to how much a week?
2. Make a list of the things you will need to organise first so you’re ready to start with your resolutions – eg get some work out gear you love, look at classes in your area and sign up, research your food plan, get your financial budget together in one place, get child care cover to give you time for exercise.
3. Get a buddy and set up some co-support – this is one of the keys to your success. A goal buddy is powerful in helping you stay on track.
4. State your resolutions in the positive and not in the negative eg ‘I am building savings in a more deliberate way is better than ‘I don’t want to be in debt’.
5. Make only as many resolutions as you believe you can keep. Better to keep to a few successfully than have a long list that all get broken. Choose a few, succeed, then go onto others you parked when you are ready.
6. Tell your friends, family, work mates about your goals so everyone knows and can support you – it’s harder to break your plan when everyone is cheering you on and asking how you are doing.
7. Write down your goals and have them somewhere visible to keep them front of mind – on the fridge door, desk at work, in your bag, on your phone.
8. Keep a daily log of how you are doing – record your successes and your failures and learn from them. Set up a chart or download an app to record your daily log.
9. Be clear why you want to do each of these things – how will each goal make you feel when you succeed? It’s the feeling that motivates us to want to make the change
10. Set a time frame to keep up the good work. Science shows us that doing anything repetitively for 21 days makes it become a habit.
Stop your blockers
Write down the things alongside your resolutions that you believe may stop you in achieving these (the ‘blockers’) and come up with antidotes to these – This is your ‘Stop the blockers’ action list.
Resolutions are powerful – it’s all about happier healthier living
We make resolutions to create positive change in our life, stop habits that are no longer serving us and create new ones that will make life better. The foundation stone of all the changes we are making serve somehow to make us happier and healthier.
Here are the 12 keystones to happiness and inner health. Include at least 5 of these in your New Year resolution setting
1. Help others and give more of yourself
2. Exercise and take care of your body
3. Appreciate what you do have
4. Have things to look forward to
5. Try out new ideas that you’ve not tried before
6. Give to others
7. Spend more time outside in nature
8. Have a clear direction
9. Connect with people
10. Take a positive approach to life and living
11. Be comfortable with who you are now
12. Keep learning
How to make resolutions stick
Making resolutions is one thing but keeping them is a whole different matter. Here’s some advice on making them last.
1. Make sure all your resolutions are achievable and worthwhile
2. Set up techniques and diary logs to encourage you to keep them
3. Work on your blockers. Identify the things that stop you doing your resolutions, face these head on and come up with firm strategies to resist your blocks. For example, stress and boredom can be triggers to go back into old habits so be aware of this and tell yourself how to stop falling into that trap.
4. If you fall off the plan, don’t beat yourself up. Just give yourself permission to get back on to your plan and carry on. Learn from it.
5. Keep up an activity for 21 days is the secret – by then it has become a habit. Trick yourself into working your resolutions list 1 day at a time for a week, do this weekly focus three times and there you go – you’ve got a new habit!
All in all we make resolutions to boost our life and bring more fun, joy and happiness. The targets are markers for what we want to create in our lives so have fun with it, aim high and make sure you are living the life you want. Resolutions are setting the tone for your new year. Let’s make this our best year yet. Why not? We can do anything if we set our minds to it.
Susie Pearl is an author, podcaster, mentor and writer on health, happiness, creativity, and success. She runs a personal coaching company working with individuals and companies. For more tips on how to make the year ahead great, read Susie’s book ‘Instructions for happiness and success’ published by Quadrille and The Art of Creativity, published by Orion Spring.
