Dear readers – wish you a year full of achievements, milestones, memories, laughter and good health! I am back with the 47th article in my Monday column in Reputation Today – ‘Destination Mindset’ to roll out various perspectives on mindset, learnt from my real life experiences from the University of Life. I am very thankful to Team ‘Reputation Today’ for giving me this valuable opportunity to express myself and share my views and learnings. Each time I sit down to write this column I get a rush of adrenalin and my fingers don’t stop typing. Hope you find these articles stimulating and useful. Thank you dear reader for giving me this privilege of sharing what I know.
On the last day of 2022 as is traditional for us, I sat down at the Bandra Bandstand to see the sun go down heralding the year to a close. Naturally the year gone by flashed in front of my eyes. The good and the bad. People who left this earth and new-borns in the year. Sitting next to me were a couple who were listing down their new year resolutions. What to stop doing and what to begin anew. That’s when I realised that a simple act of creating new year resolutions is one of the oldest acts of changing mindsets to be our best versions! This is an inherent urge in mankind to improve, become better. Resolutions can range from simple actions like, I will loose weight or I will not loose my temper easily. Or pacific ones like I will give back to society etc.
Resolutions are driven with the intent of positive change. However, what happens later in the month of January. Do the new walking shoes go back in the cupboard? Do we start giving into stress again, adversely affecting our health. There is a method to the madness of resolutions. How do you make resolutions and keep them?
Create real new year resolutions
Very often we just make resolutions for the sake of making resolutions. Often its peer pressure too. Some friends make resolutions so you too go with the flow. After all whatever resolutions you create are changes that you wish you could make. Unreal resolutions become flippant and with the passing of every day of the new year and then melt away when the realities of our day to day routines hit us and the pressures of work and life overwhelm us. Creating real resolutions and following them through will make it all worthwhile. Be convinced that making your resolution and following it is good for you!
Make a resolution roadmap
Follow the good old method of planning your work and then working your plan. So, if you create a new year resolution, plan out its execution. Create a new mindset. Change your behavior to make your new mindset, your new habit! Let me give you a practical example. Say your resolution is to give up smoking in 2023. Start putting your plan into action early January as it’s not easy. You will need a buddy to hold your hand and take you through this process. You will need to take a medical practitioner into confidence. There will be terrible withdrawal symptoms to manage. You may decide to taper off your smoking over time, but you will need to follow a calendar and ensure that you keep to your schedule. Similar with anything new you want to do or anything else you might want to stop doing!
Once you succeed reward yourself
Often resolutions are seen as punishments as we need to rewire where we are hardwired. Once you fulfill your resolution, plan a reward for yourself in advance. Keep a buddy along the journey who monitors and sees the change happening. You will yourself feel a deep sense of satisfaction yourself. Celebrate your change. Go inspire countless others with your success story!
“Don’t make resolutions without an action plan. The secret to success is right in your hands” J. Allen Shaw
The views and opinions published here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher.
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