resolution
/rɛzəˈluːʃ(ə)n/
noun
a firm decision to do or not to do something.
Since my teenage years I’ve been an ardent list maker culminating at the end of each year in a long list of resolutions. A few months ago I found a diary I had kept as a fourteen year old and within that amongst the many toe curlingly cringey entries was a new years resolution list. The first three items on the long list were 1) stop picking spots 2) drink more water 3) never think about ***** (teenage crush who shall remain nameless) again. I’m pretty sure all of those resolves fell by the wayside within a week, or however long it took for the next spot to appear…in which case probably less than a week. I can confirm ‘drink more water’ remains a challenge to this day and something I resolve to do at least three times a year every year. Thankfully I don’t have as many spots to contend with as I did when I was fourteen. Occasionally that teenage crush will pop into my mind.
In the last few years I haven’t really bothered with any new years resolutions and dare I say it, I have kind of missed them. I’m a total bore when it comes to New Years Eve and prefer to get to bed early and avoid all the fuss and having to hug and kiss strangers at midnight (any other other day of the year it’s not an issue because you don’t have to wish them well). I do however really like New Year’s Day and getting up early and out for a hike to start the new year on a positive note. And it is a positive time, the chaos of Christmas is behind us, within a few weeks we’ll notice the days getting longer and then it’s just all downhill towards the summer months…well kind of…what better time to set a positive intention? This year realizing that when it comes to resolutions, less is more and I’ve made just one resolution.
Research shows that only one in ten of us will continue with our new years resolutions until the end of the year and that it takes sixty six days for something to become a habit. That may sound disheartening but according to the experts the way to achieve our resolutions is to make them specific e.g. rather than just pronouncing what you’re going to do e.g. ‘I’m going to get fit’, which let’s face it, is a bit vague, figure out ‘the why’ – your motivation, and then ‘the how’ – make a plan.
Have a serious think about your motivation. Why do you need or want to do this? How will you benefit from it? Now let’s stop calling it a resolution and call it ‘a goal’ instead. This is where the ‘SMART’ tool comes in to help us achieve this goal.
Specific – If your resolution is ‘to get fit’, be specific e.g. to run a 5k park run or a 10k. At this point it would be good to figure out your ‘how’? Joining a group / club who have specific training sessions or buddying up with someone is a great place to start. If you’re training with a group / club they will help you work towards your goal using the next four principles. If you’re buddying up and your friend has experience in the area – great, otherwise do your research. Again the researchers tell us that working with a friend or group is a great motivator and gives us accountability.
Measurable – setting intermittent / smaller goals means you can see your progress and remain motivated.
Achievable – Your goal should be achievable e.g. if you’re a complete newbie to running / exercise and starting in January an ironman triathlon in June might not be a great idea, whereas the mini marathon would be an achievable goal.
Realistic – be realistic about the amount of time and effort you will need to put in to achieve your goal and also the fact that it might take a bit of time before you see results. You may fall off the wagon and that’s ok, just dust yourself off and get back on.
Timely – There’s nothing like a deadline to focus the mind and efforts.
Whatever your goal is it can be useful to apply these rules and if the whole New Years resolution thing makes you want to smash a Christmas tree bauble off the wall, while I’m not suggesting procrastination (I do enough of that for all of us), remember resolutions are not just for new years, they can be made at anytime.
What’s my resolution? It involves writing. I won’t bore you with the specifics but suffice it to say I thought I’d start with a blog.
Happy New Year Everyone.
