A New Year to celebrate and learn from

Make 2022 work for you

How was 2021? Better than 2020? Worse? Looking for a COVID-free world? Me too!

How do you process the end of the year? How do you prepare for next year? I have friends who spend much of January in prayer, reflection, and planning. They ask God for wisdom and guidance as they plan the next year.

Many people talk about New Year’s resolutions. What do you think are the top three New Year’s resolutions? Statista surveyed 531 American and found the top three were exercising, eating healthy, and spending more time with family.

Look at these top 10 – What are yours?

(https://www.statista.com/chart/23812/most-popular-new-year-resolutions-americans)

As you reflect on 2021 and plan your 2022, let me share a few thoughts to help you on your journey:

Take a serious, honest assessment

When you consider what you have or have not accomplished, be honest. Don’t be too hard on yourself, just be honest. Don’t make goals that are not realistic or possible.

Plan well

Don’t just throw a few ideas on a scratch pad of paper. Put the goals down, but some ideas on how you will get them done, what the steps are, what the benefits of accomplishing your goal will be.

Write it down

I had a professor who once taught ‘Weakest ink is stronger than strongest memory’ – there is something powerful about putting a resolution to writing.

Strategize for success

Look at your resolution(s) from every angle, do a SWOT analysis on your resolution
Yeah, it sounds like I’m getting serious about your resolution now, doesn’t it? I am, and I don’t apologize. If you want a better life that accomplishes what’s important to you, let’s get serious about it. Remember the line from My cousin Vinny “You were serious ‘bout dat?” Yes, let’s get serious about your resolutions. A SWOT analysis looks at the topic from 4 distinct angles:

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats

Let me walk you through this. Let’s say the goal is to lose weight, say 20 pounds. The strength is good health, look good, feel better, etc. Weakness? You’ll need discipline, you’ll miss some favorite food like sweet and carbs. Opportunity? Better health, new exercise routine, time to take the storage stuff off your treadmill, a chance to show those you love and care about that you are taking care of yourself, perhaps reduced medical bills long term, longer life, etc. Threat? Maybe every time you see chocolate you will be tempted, meals that don’t help you lose weight, going out to eat, etc. Threats should be met with a plan. Allow yourself a mini chocolate bar, but not a whole bag of candy. I am sure you get the idea.

Share your plan

The more you talk about your resolutions, the more likely you are to succeed. What you talk about moves from the back burner to front and center. As more and more people know your goals, you build a community of people who can help you, hold you accountable and celebrate you along the way.

Enjoy the results

Even if you don’t meet every goal, every step of improvement is a victory worth celebrating!

If you are serious about your New Year’s resolutions and would like to connect to talk about them,  I would love  to help you build a long term plan for your life. Let’s connect.