A New Year Beckons

 A new year denotes change, and that is desperately needed.  Understatement accomplished, let's move on.

Beyond the news cycle and constant covid updates, we are back to the turning to the new year, and all the hope, idealism and more that this always means.  We will make resolutions with the best of intentions (or not) drunk and sober.  We will pledge to lose weight, fall in love, fall into shape, or fall into a new job, relationship, or situation. But the reality of this new year shouldn't be lost on us.  Too often life complicates our ability to achieve our desires - the job was hectic, the schedule allowed us no time, or we weren't financially in the right place to save for that big dream.  Of course this year is different, we will still be looking for new work, or stuck in our home offices with endless meetings.  

So how to make your new year resolutions come true ?  

Make a plan.  It's honest to goodness that easy.

The resolution is the "what", and while it's always fun to dream up new "whats", the truth is that was never going to be challenging bit.  The hard part is the "how".

I'm a personal fan of this structure - 'Objectives, Strategies and Actions'.  It allows for clarity of direction, a pathway that can be changed, and the opportunity to make some mistakes or mis-steps.  That last part of pretty important, as I need the ability to fall off the wagon without throwing away the whole thing.    Let's break this down:

Objective:  that's your resolution itself.  Lose 10 lbs, stop eating sugar (my own), meet new people, or learn latin...whatever you want to do.

Strategy:  This is the macro-plan.  Let me illustrate - I'll remove refined sugar from my daily intake by understanding what it's contained in, and find substitutes for those things.  I know directionally this will mean prepping more food I'll eat later, and avoiding some favorite temptations.   Your strategy might be to schedule time for the gym, or a nite out, or give/toss the bottles you have in the house to a friend.

Actions:  This is the day to day stuff we will each do that aligns to our strategy.  So when I go shopping for food (an action), I won't buy cookies or ice-cream. Another action would be to prep some snacks as I'm prone to grazing while I work.  Your actions would also support your strategy, as applicable.  What happens if I cave in and eat sugar-coated sugar treats one-day ?  Well the action that may have prevented it didn't work, and I understand that, and don't try that same action and expect a different result.  The plan remains intact, and I learn from this and move on.

That's my plan, and I've given some thought to the how.

What's yours?