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Bringing Life to Your New Year’s Resolutions: Moving Beyond Goals
Setting goals, new plans, and forming New Year’s resolutions – we are all familiar with these. Some of us are excited about new goals. Some are reluctant, remembering the “failures” of previous years. Some are nonchalant. Whichever it is, here are some tips to Bring Life to Your New Year’s Resolutions so that you can live with vitality in 2023.
New Year’s resolutions are more than just words. Start by looking at your New Year’s resolutions as your way of living rather than just some new goals. A common problem that most of us have is we often focus on what we want to change, rather than bringing a sense of meaning and purpose to these resolutions. Resolutions aren’t just words, they are how we want to live. For example, if your resolution is to be healthier, rather than just writing down “I want to lose 10 kg”, or “I want to jog 20 minutes a day”, instead, take some time to explore what living healthier feels like and looks like. Go beyond the words and get in touch with the experience that you are hoping to have. It could be said that this is like the difference between looking at the majestic Angkor Wat from a distance and admiring it’s beauty, versus actually experiencing it as you walk through and feel the history and imagine the meaning behind the construction, even bringing that meaning into your present experience. You have to bring your resolutions to life.
Four keys to help to explore your resolutions and bring them to life are:
- Present Focus: Resolutions are not about tomorrows. They are about living life to the utmost today. They must be lived out in your present moment, here and now. It is not about what you want to achieve tomorrow or the future, rather, it is what you want to experience today, presently, with who and what’s important for you.
- Willingness: As you pen down your resolutions, you will also notice the feelings of struggling, fear, and discouragement from past failures showing up. These unpleasant feelings can stop us before we even start. You have to learn to be willing to have these uncomfortable feelings, notice them, and set them aside in a corner (as least temporarily), as you plan your life journey for 2023.
- Vitality: Will these resolutions bring vitality to your life? Take a moment to visualise and feel your journey of living these resolutions throughout this year. Feel the victories. Feel the possible defeats, and feel the glory when you see yourself, tired but having completed your goals, at the ending line of 2023.
- Actionable Choice: Finally, use the management tool of S.M.A.R.T. to set your actionable goals. Be careful not to write big unachievable goals. Rather, write some small and practical steps that can be achieved in the present moments for your New Year’s Resolutions. (S.M.A.R.T. represents Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Related). Remember, goals are flexible. They can be adjusted and changed as you walk through your 2023.
These four keys will help you bring life to your 2023 New Year’s Resolutions.
1 January 2023
By Lee Teck Ming, M.A. Counselling (Psychotherapist)
New Vision Counselling and Consultancy 