I’m serious. There is no worse way to start your New Year off!
Resolutions are stupid and they’re made to be broken. Seriously.
Say this in your head: My resolution for 2016 is (fill in the blank).
Now check in with the feeling in your belly…
Doesn’t everything inside you just tense up?
No? Cool. And if you can make a resolution at the stroke of midnight while you’re feeling no pain or the next morning when you vow not to drink again…and actually commit and stick to it until the end of January, wow, stop reading.
I’m all for making goals to make the new year my best one yet. Totally. My shelves are packed with self-help and self-empowerment books. Love ‘em.
Buuuuut, not to be a Debbie Downer, most resolutions that are made are done out of desperation, are unrealistic and for the most part…unattainable. FOR THE MOST PART.
I almost got sucked in.
Last week I realized I haven’t had a chance to finish my goal list for 2016, and I had a fleeting thought about making a resolution, seeing we’re days away from the New Year.
Instead, I thought about what I wanted to do and I started doing it THAT DAY. It felt good.
I love to see people make a goal and attain it. Goals are not easy, I know.
So I thought I’d play coach and offer you some tips to help you get rolling.
1) START NOW. Don’t wait til January 1, or 2 or Monday. If you want to do something, whether it’s get healthy, go on a trip, learn something new, do something NOW!
2) START WHERE YOU ARE. Don’t wait to get the right shoes or app or whatever. Take a look at where you are right now.
Dr. Phil says: You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
Want to get fit and haven’t broken a sweat in months? Start by finding your sneakers and while you’re at it, ask yourself when was the last time you exercised. Be honest. And don’t kick your ass about it if the truth hurts. That doesn’t work, trust me.
Do something. Walk to your driveway, around the block…whatever. For 5 minutes. It’s better than nothing.
Want to save money? Examine your finances. See where the money’s going. Be honest.
Want to take piano lessons? Dust off the piano if you have one. Phone your local music store to recommend a teacher. You have to start somewhere.
DO SOMETHING to make that first step, once you do, every step after that gets easier.
3) MAKE A PLAN AND SET A DATE. Write your goal on some blank paper and write down ways you can do it. If WIN THE LOTTERY is your goal, you still have to buy a ticket (or 30). Find 5 things that you know will move you to your goal and circle them. Make sure they’re doable. Break them down into itty bitty steps if you need to (you might have 50 steps…whatever; you’ll need to break them down, and it’s a good mind game to quiet the resistance).
4) BE REALISTIC. What? Coming from a musician? Sure I could have a goal to write 30 songs a day, every day for the next 6 months. Would I be able to do it? Maybe for one day and then I’d have to sleep for a week. But 1 song every three days? Yes, I could do that.
If your goal is to run a marathon and the marathon is in February and you’ve never run one before, or haven’t run this decade, that’s unrealistic. (Unless you have such pinpoint focus and don’t have a life; not saying it can’t be done…just think about it.) You might want to train for it…build up to it, so maybe a 1/2 marathon in the summer works better for now. That’s realistic. Adaptable. Reread #2 and #3.
5) START FROM YOUR GOAL , WORK BACKWARDS AND BE SPECIFIC. Eg: One of my goals is to post more videos on youtube in 2016. More? What does that mean? One a week? One a day…one an hour? Live video? Lyric video? Vlog? Some videos take more time to create than others, so I need to figure out what I need to do (camera, iphone, production team, set aside time to create a lyric video) every month, week, day, to make that happen.
It doesn’t have to be that complicated. You want to get healthier? What are you doing now to prevent you from doing that? Do something different.
6) WRITE DOWN 3 REASONS WHY YOU WANT THIS GOAL. Then post them on your phone, or your computer. Where you see it often. Why are you really doing this? Is it to get healthier? To have more you time? A sense of accomplishment?
It’s about you. What you want. And why you want it is part of that.
Why do you want to fit into those pants that are hanging in the back of your closet that you haven’t worn since high school? (see step 3 and if it still makes sense, go for it. If not, for GOD’s sake, throw them out)
7) DON’T TELL ANYONE. Whaaat? I’m freaking serious. Unless you want everyone’s advice, opinions or to listen to them go on about how they failed and you will too, fly at it. I’m not joking…there are people who unconsciously try to sabotage or ridicule you. No, I’m not paranoid. There are so many people that are afraid of seeing other people make changes or succeed. Even people we live with and love.
If you really need support, make sure you tell someone who you are positive will support you.
You be the judge.
8) JUST DO IT! Like Nike says…
Congratulations. You’re on your way.
Just know as you work toward any positive change, that not only are you doing something for yourself to make your world better, you’re actually living your life for you.
And that’s okay.
