For as many years as I can remember my New Year’s Resolutions have been goal statements — as in a certain amount of money I wanted to save, or income I wanted to earn, or weight I wanted to lose. But as the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, the things I did each day seemed to take on less significance. I focused more on the end goal and at the beginning of the year, especially the first couple of months, it felt like I had all the time in the world to make the goal. Not that I didn’t have goals that made me stretch — just that I didn’t attach those goals to actions I needed to take each day and week to make the goal happen.
The older I get the more time shouts to me — that time is passing and passing quickly so I’m either going to do the things needed to be pleased with what I’ve achieved and the impact I want to make or I am not. So, this time as I was thinking through my goals at the end of December, I began rethinking how I set my resolutions for the new year. And since this would be the start of a new decade, I review it with more weight, more gravity. I began with the end goal in mind. For example, I set a writing goal and then thought through what habit I needed to commit to each day to make it more achievable.
Later that same week I listened to a podcast by Amy Porterfield (Online Marketing Made Easy) in which she featured an interview with the author of Atomic Habits by James Clear. He said habits can be the “compound interest of self-improvement.” Comparing habits to the impact compound interest has on money, he said if we concentrate on making sure we’re intentional about our daily habits, the impact of them “multiplies as you repeat them across time.” He gave the example of our eating choices, saying that one day of good habits is good, but it doesn’t make much difference unless it’s practiced day after day.
Clear’s message gave me validation for my take on New Year’s resolutions. “The process of success is hidden from view.” Why we think we see “overnight successes,” when in fact the person has been putting in the time to develop the skills that have made the success possible. Whatever your outcome goals are — mastering a new skill, excelling in a sport, achieving a weight loss goal, or publishing a book – – – they’ll be achieved not by wishing but by doing. It will be a repetition of daily habits that as time progresses will compound and move you to the natural outcome that is your goal. Viewing my habits in that way helped me get over the feeling that I have to do something huge or do nothing. So often it’s hard if not impossible to point to a huge step that is taken all by itself. Instead, it is a series of small steps that connect and build a pathway that moves you toward the big outcome. Looking at habits in this way motivated me to come up with the habits that I committed to as part of my New Year’s resolutions.
The second thing I did was to announce my resolutions to my family and close friends — it’s akin to what I like to call “putting it out in the universe.” My daughters tease me about this saying, but I swear by it — the thought that you announce your goals to the universe – meaning your family, your tribe, your community, etc. I firmly believe that the universe – our universe of support – – wants to see us achieve our goals, to be our better selves. By declaring what we want to achieve, the universe then is on the lookout to helps us make them happen.
Therefore, I encourage you to think through what you want to look back and say that you have achieved at this time next year when we’ve celebrated the passing of 2020 and are anticipating 2021. Review what habits you need to adopt, modify, or amp up each day to increase your odds of achieving the goal. And along the way, put it out in the universe — tell your tribe, your family, your supporters so they can encourage you along the way. Here’s to making 2020 the best!