It seems to be the custom in our society to use the unwrapping of a new year's calendar as an excuse to turn the page on an area of our life that we are not happy about. However, in reality, I notice that the gym, always full during the first week of January, gets strangely quiet by the end of that first month.
Why do most resolutions fail? Do resolutions really work to create lasting change?
The cause of many failed resolutions is the attempt to modify behaviors without realizing that the root of our results resides in our thoughts, attitudes, assumptions and beliefs about the world: how we define our personal truth.
Our unconscious truth is that we want instant gratification, without sacrifice, effort, or pain. We want the magic bullet that will make our lives the way we want them, right now. We want change while staying in our comfort zone. We deserve what we want!
Change is essential to who we are. To thrive as living beings, we need to continuously evolve and grow. We need to change to be in sync with the world around us. Change is good, change is vital.
We make a resolution when we see that there is a part of our life where the results don't quite match the idealized picture we have of ourselves. The recognition that something needs to change is a good thing. Stating the resolution consciously, out loud, is an important trigger to start the process of conscious change away from what we don't want and towards something we do want.
Where resolutions fall down is that most people set themselves up for failure. Resolutions are the first part of a system to modify your thoughts, words, actions, character and destiny. However, just saying it is not enough to make the change happen.
What is the best way to ensure that you are building the future you really want, in your life, your career, your relationships, your business, your livelihood?
The most important factor in creating and implementing successful resolutions is to give yourself the time and room to learn a new way of being. Many self-help experts say it takes three weeks to adopt a new habit. They are partly right...it may take three weeks to feel comfortable with a new habit, but it takes six to twelve months to lock it in as a way of life that is automatic for you. That's why clarity, commitment, detailed planning and long-term support are so important.
A resolution turns into a result through a simple process:
a. Intention: describing the result that you want;
b. Strategy: creating a plan to make it happen and gathering the resources you need;
c. Execution: living your plan, integrating new habits and actions, making things happen; and
d. Result: outcome that you assess and feedback to modify any of the previous steps to make the result as close as possible to your intention.
Anytime of the year, not just January 1, is a great time to create a resolution that works. Consciously adopt one new result into your life each year, and you will be creating the future you really want, by design instead of by default. Isn't that worth making a deliberate decision to change, now?
Davender Gupta is a business leadership coach and Certified "Book Yourself Solid" Coach whose mission is to guide passion-driven solopreneurs and beginning network marketers to accelerate their Vision from Passion to Profit. Join the discussion on his blog frompassiontoprofit.com and his main site coachdavender.com He welcomes your questions by e-mail at coach@davender.com or by phone, toll-free, at 1-888-788-8844.
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