Better Than Resolutions
Happy New Year! This past week corks popped, confetti flew, and revelers the world over celebrated another successful rotation of our planet around the sun. It was a time to hail the ending of the old and the beginning of the new, to celebrate where we’ve been and where we want to go. The idea of a fresh start, combined with a little indulgence remorse, compels us to make commitments to get to a “better you” in 2019. Gym deals and diet ads are in overdrive filling our feeds with motivational quotes and inspirational videos challenging us to reach that goal you keep telling yourself you’ll get to, eventually.
Whether you call it a resolution, a life goal, or just new habits, it’s hard to resist the urge to focus on self-improvement. But not only are those commitments notoriously difficult to follow through on (80% of New Year’s resolutions fail), by simply focusing on the things you want to change about yourself, you are missing a golden opportunity.
This year, instead of just making a list of what you’re going to do differently, challenge yourself to do something even more powerful. Something that reminds you of all the good habits you already have and should continue to practice. This year make an Annual Brag List.
Throughout the year, I encourage my team to keep track of the things they are proud of; a new skill they mastered, a new program they learned, or the completion of a particularly difficult or complex project. This list can be helpful in a lot of ways (resume content, learning plan starter, etc.) but the most powerful I’ve found is that it builds pride. It’s easy for all of us to forget all of the amazing things we’ve done throughout the year and it’s easy to get down on ourselves for what we haven’t accomplished. The brag list helps combat that and even if you haven’t kept up all year, you can still write one.
START FROM THE BEGINNING
Look back at your calendar and start thinking about what you did at the very beginning of last year. Think about personal accomplishments as well as professional. What was something tough that you survived? What was something you did that was kind to someone else? Did you learn something new? Then work your way back from January to today. Include everything that you’re proud of no matter how big or small.
WHAT AND WHY?
Write down the event or accomplishment and why you are proud of it. Don’t compare it to anyone else or use someone else’s measure for success. If you’re proud of it, put it on the list!
REREAD IT
Once you’ve completed it, take a minute to read it over. You’ll be amazed at all of the things you’ve accomplished that get filed away in your mind. It’s easy for us to discount the great things we’ve done, simply because they’re in the past.
SAVE IT
Save your list somewhere you can find it again when you need it; an online drive, on your phone, in a journal. Have it handy for those days when you feel like you’re failing or when you feel like you’re not moving forward as fast as you would like or getting to your goals the way you want. You can also add to it as the year progresses.
Even if you do decide to set some resolutions or new year goals for yourself, you’ll find this list as motivating and energizing as reaching any one of the goals you set. Trying to be better today than you were tomorrow is a worthy task, but don’t forget to look back at yesterday and remind yourself that you were pretty amazing then too.