What are you no longer doing in the new year?
When the festive period around the turn of the year is over, most people return to their everyday professional and business life with all its challenges, but also its opportunities. After a week in the new year, however, the first good resolutions made on New Year's Eve are already eroding - as in previous years.
Such a turn of the year has strong symbolic power: something old has passed, something new is beginning. This invites you to decide to make a fresh start and heroically set yourself new goals. This is very motivating, you immediately feel inspired and full of energy. But soon there is a problem with implementation - why is that?
Keep an eye on the process, not just the goal
At this moment, some people are immediately hard on themselves and condemn themselves for a lack of self-discipline or willpower. Are you perhaps one of them? Slow down, please, be a little kinder to yourself in the new year. The problem that many people have with goal setting is that they only focus on the end result, but pay too little attention to the process of getting there. This is because the process is crucial to whether the dreamed goal actually becomes a result.
Action requires time
If we want to do something new, acquire a new skill, take up a neglected activity again or change something, it takes time. Whether we want to exercise more, read more books, lose weight or grow our business, we need to invest a few hours a week. We need time to go for a run, go to the gym, sit down with a good book, attend a class or cook more instead of eating ready meals and make phone calls to prospective clients, make new contacts in the city or write friend requests on online networks.
What are you no longer doing?
Work out how much time you need each week to implement your good intentions and achieve your goals. As we all only have 168 hours a week, the question arises as to where you find this time. Unfortunately, you can't increase your time. It will only work if you reallocate the time you have available to you and divide it up differently. If you are serious about your goals, you can no longer do certain things.
So before you do something new, you have to decide what you are no longer doing! Sit down and write a list of the habits you want to get rid of, the pointless activities you want to give up and the people who are not good for you but take up your time and energy.
- What has harmed you?
- What has put you in a bad mood?
- Who or what has annoyed or even depressed you?
- What made you feel guilty?
- What left you with a hangover (not only caused by alcohol)?
- What did you waste time on?
Write down everything you want to get rid of in order to create space, time and energy for something new and better. Yes, this can be unpleasant. To ease the pain, here's a suggestion:
Replace instead of omit
We don't like having to stop doing something that has perhaps already become a fixed habit. A void has been created. We are missing something. This is the main reason why good intentions are abandoned so quickly. But if we fill the gap with something else, this feeling of loss doesn't arise in the first place, or at least it doesn't torment us as much.
So what do you want to stop doing in order to gain time and energy for what is important to you this year? Write a list! What are you replacing with what?
- Tea instead of white wine or beer
- A walk instead of going to the fridge
- New friendships instead of old power robbers
- Taking an online course instead of watching the news
- Reading a book instead of scrolling through social media
- Writing a diary instead of brooding
- Making contacts instead of tormenting a sleeping downline
- Networking instead of Netflix
The new year will be great - not because it gives you something, but because you make something of it!
