New Year's Resolutions

What are your end of the year rituals?

Mine are: I like to clean the house, make space for the new and to take some time to reect on the learnings of the past year and to make plans for the upcoming one. I also update my Goodreads challenge.

Resolution tip: Resolutions are like establishing goals for yourself, not making wishes for the universe. Tackle them either as an OKR, a Wheel of Life model or even habit creation.

I strongly recommend the book Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

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When you phrase your resolution, don't make it as a simple to-do list that you can tick, and you're done. Phrase it with intention.

Next year I will ____ because I want to ____ and I plan to accomplish this by ____. I'll know I have succeeded when ____.

An example: Next year I will read twenty books because I want to read more, and I plan to accomplish this by reading at least one book and a half each month, which will require me to set aside some time for that. I like reading when I commute, but when it is not possible, I'll read during my lunch break. I'll know I have succeeded when I have read three books every two months or when I reach July having read (at least) nine books, so I can just keep going until December.

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How to set the goal?

We often think of unrealistic goals for ourselves during this time of the year, or fail to make a plan for it to happen. Use the KISS (Keep it Simple) when designing your resolutions. They are your own personal goals, therefore you are responsible for making them happen.

When we aim too high and fail, we are bound to a frustration that will most likely lead to the limiting belief that whatever we hoped to accomplish is not meant for us. So, instead of writing "learn a new language", or "stop smoking", "go to the beach more often", think about how that may become a reality in your life.

As I mentioned, I take part in the Goodreads challenge. I've done that since 2011. My ďŹ rst year I was very ambitious with it, I had no idea how many books I usually read each year and I just set a number which felt like an accomplishment, ďŹ fty books. The system tells you when you are ahead of schedule or falling behind as you create your reading log. By March, I was so behind I didn't feel motivated enough to keep on going and I didn't even bother to log the books I read that year. I didn't even care to set myself a goal in 2012, it felt hopeless. By 2013 I decided to give it another shot and went for forty books. I did it, but it was a race against the clock therefore it was not a pleasurable experience the idea of even setting a number. Reading for me is not about bragging how many books I have read, nor comparing myself to others, it's something I deeply care about and I just want to enjoy this journey.

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2014 I went with the same number, forty, and lucky me, I had a lot of commuting hours that year, so I was able to surpass my ambitious goal. The following year I went with 30 books, which felt as a more attainable number. I had to focus on other things and I wasn't able to reach the desired number, and since I kept logging the books with the constant reminder of how behind I was I decided I wasn't going to feel bad about it, I had focused on so many of my other goals and the racing against the clock reading is not for me. I don't skip pages, I don't skim and scan. Furthermore, I don't want to have a number to show off, I just want to keep track of my progress and to be able to look back at the past challenges and feel that I have accomplished something, that I remain true to myself and that I can look at a particular year and know what books I read. So I adjusted my goal to twenty books and I have kept that number ever since. I know that it means reading a book and a half each month, or three books every two months, and it's not only something I can keep up with, but also an enjoyable experience. Never again did I miss the target, I have been able to shift the mindset around the goal and some years I go way beyond twenty books.

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How to keep going?

I have also learnt that it is the consistency that keeps the ball moving. Reading is something that depends entirely on myself, it is important to me, so I prioritize it, and keeping a log helps keeps me on my toes. I can measure the progress and I know by now how to remove this activity from wishful thinking and put it into action.

This is true to the majority of the goals we set for ourselves and there are many ways to keep track of our progress. Habit-tracking apps can keep you organized, and for those who prefer paper, techniques like the bullet journal are great for that as well.

When you visualize your progress, you don't want to break the streak, so you feel compelled to keep going. Start small, celebrate your victories and keep going. In this TED Talk, BJ Fogg explains a bit about it.

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If this resonates with you, I propose you give Stanford University - Behaviour Design Lab's Behaviour Wizard.

Hope you can create your New Year's resolutions with more intentions this year. Drop me a line if this content has been useful to you.

Happy New Year!

@teachercasals