Do you make New Year’s resolutions every year and more importantly, do you keep them? According to research, only 8% of people who make New Year’s resolutions keep them. Of course, there are some tips to help you keep your New Year’s resolutions. I have been one of those people who make resolutions every year and am lucky if I keep two of three of them. I have to admit that once I made my resolutions, I often didn’t look at them again until five or six months into the year. This is definitely not a good practice for measuring goals!
This year, I’m going to skip the New Year’s resolutions in favour of writing my daily goals. I started writing daily goals last fall after reading the book, Get Rich, Lucky Bitch by Denise Duffield. I have found that writing my goals down on a daily basis keeps them top of mind and as a result, I am taking more action to achieve them. Of the 14 goals that I wrote down back in September, four of those goals have already materialized and four more are in progress. That’s a much better result than I ever achieved with my New Year’s resolutions.
In addition to writing my daily goals, I have decided to write three general themes for the year 2021. They are:
1) Good Health – In 2021 and beyond, I am going to put my health first…even before work! Having gone through 2020, it’s apparent to me and many others that good health is critical. I will be improving my health by walking more, eating healthier and saying ‘no’ to activities when I am tired.
2) Joy – In 2021 and beyond, I am going to cultivate joy in my life. That means spending my time on activities that bring me joy and spending time with people that bring me joy. I won’t spend time on things I don’t want to do.
3) Mindfulness – In 2021 and beyond, I am going to be mindful of my thoughts and the way I spend my time. I am also going to manage my energy instead of managing my time, a concept I read about in Kate Northrup’s book, Do Less. Ensuring that my thoughts are positive (most of the time!) should result in experiencing more joy in my life (see point 2!)
Whether you make New Year’s Resolutions or daily goals, I hope you are successful in 2021 in achieving them. Happy New Year!
You might be interested in reading, “Exercise Tips to Keep Your New Year’s Resolution“.
