The New Year Procrastinator
Are you in the midst of an internal dialogue on planning new years resolutions, big plans or a grand vision? Are you hoping to be a brain surgeon, ultra marathon running, lifetime achievement territory human by the end of 2018? I’ll be honest, every year until this year I made “resolutions” and set the bar too high, and alas I rarely hit my goals or if I did, it was a largely unenjoyable adventure.
Now I am older, hopefully wiser and have decided 2018 is a year for positive change. As a Founder in the online mental health organisation www.turn2me.org, I want to practise positive mental health for 2018 and make changes, set goals and incrementally set out on a journey. I hope some others will too.
So the goal became to have a new way to look at yearly goals. This is where the 365 model came from, one day at a time, some slower, some better!
The New Year is nothing more than a simple calendar change but its symbolic impact is not to be understated. It represents an almost new chance at something new every 365 days. But break it down, 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months, there is lots of time, segments. This year 2018 it is time for me to change tac and do something different...it is a time to start with three simple questions:
- What 3 things would I have done last year differently?
- What 3 things did I learn from last year?
- What 3 things would I like to achieve this year?
When you are done with 1 and 2 and it should take no more than 30 minutes, MOVE ONTO 3. There is no point now in dwelling on these which will not seem like a natural conclusion to many, 2017 is done, you cannot go back, you cannot change it, so move forward. The lessons of last year can shape and influence what you want to change and achieve this year, but should not be a stick to beat yourself with. Setting out 3 things to achieve this year now has never seemed so important, empowering and also potentially fulfilling.
With each of the three start goals you set stat slowly. You don’t need to have hit high performance or a high bar at the outset, that would not be a goal then, right? Increments and iterations, so if you are looking to run a 5k by June, then start with a 2k run, when you hit this, congratulate yourself, reward yourself and shout about it to others, so they will too. Or if its a career change by the end of the year, start by working out what you most enjoy and what your strengths are, if you do not know, get some help from friends and family. Be realistic and start slowly, momentum gathers and you have much more chance of success if you start small and build, and you will likely enjoy it more.
Finally, share the journey, doing it alone can be much harder. Tell someone or tell everyone what your goals are, see how they will support, help and encourage, they might even get involved! But by sharing you are accountable now. And if you do not want to share with people, then consider getting a coach of sorts, they come in many forms and shapes, but having someone with you throughout the year will make the journey not only more successful but also enjoyable.
I have my 3 goals finally written down:
- To focus on my career and invest every part of me in my new role at Facebook;
- To run 3 mountain adventure races, starting small finishing in September with a 68k race, no small challenge.
- To give more time back to turn2me.org and really bring in more expertise, offer more services to people in need and offer services to young people 13+.
None of these will be easy, and each require a very different kind of plan. It starts now, or well it started already, it just took time to post.
It’s day 23 now (it moves quick), I just posted this plan but stay tuned for more. Please also share your goals and journey with me, let’s do it together.
So grab a pen and paper and do it now.
Support is always available on www.turn2me.org - A Lifeline Online